A Second Chance
by hoshikuzuhime
Summary: **This fic contains spoilers for anything up to and including Desperada.** This takes place during Desperada while Adrien is Aspik using the snake miraculous. It plays on when Apsik confesses to Ladybug he's also Chat Noir, but instead of using second chance and going back in time, Ladybug dodges Desperada's attack rather than being captured and the pair manage to defeat the akuma.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hi friends! This is something I started writing for fun, but it turned into something a lot longer. New parts will be updated every Sunday and as of right now I'm writing part 10 and we're not really close to ending, but we'll see how things go. Hope you all enjoy!

* * *

Aspik had turned back time using his power, second chance, what, ten - no, thirty times? He'd lost track. He'd been trying so hard to save Ladybug that these second chances had all conjoined and melted together. Was he doing this to prove how cool he was? Maybe to gain her approval or adoration? At this point it didn't matter why; he just didn't want to accept defeat and embarrass himself after showing such confidence. He'd keep doing this for months if he had to.

A few times he'd tried again to humor himself he'd do something dumb on purpose, then use second chance. Sure, it was an abuse of his powers - but then again, who would know? After several more humiliating defeats, he decided that this would be yet another one of those times.

Aspik went over the same dialogue with Ladybug - he practically had it all memorized by now. He said everything she did to him the first few times, plus that they'd been through this before. This time was very similar to some of the others. Ladybug hadn't been captured yet, but he didn't have much hope in his abilities at this point, so he took the chance to do something a little crazy.

"Ladybug, I'm actually also Chat Noir and I've been in love with you since–"

"Watch out!" Ladybug said, cutting him off. She darted to one side as he jumped to the other. A puff of smoke appeared between them. "We'll finish this conversation after we capture the akuma, now help me distract her," she said with a smile before bouncing off somewhere behind Desperada. The two jumped here and there, swiftly evading Desperada's shots.

Somehow this iteration was going well and he wanted to turn back time, but seeing her get captured each time hurt him so much. He whispered to himself "please let this be the time." Thoughts of how he was going to explain himself plagued his mind. Surely she was going to be upset that he abandoned her as her faithful partner Chat Noir only to become a slightly less reliable teammate who she kept tripping over herself around. He obviously made her uncomfortable; what was he doing? First Marinette couldn't seem to form a sentence properly and now Ladybug kept stumbling over her words around him? What were the chances?

Despite his confused and rambling state, he noticed his bracelet tick back to the locked position. His five minutes of safety were up. His heart skipped a beat - now it was the real deal. "I've got you now, snake boy." Desperada called out, readying her horn. Before it could shoot anything Ladybug pulled it away with her yo-yo, tossing it far from Desperada's reach.

"Nice distraction, Aspik!" Ladybug called out to him.

Aspik ran toward the horn, picking it up just in time and shooting it toward Desperada. He wasn't sure if it would work since he wasn't the akuma, but it was worth a shot. Heh heh, a shot, he thought, smirking and chuckling internally before sounding the horn. To Ladybug and his delight, it worked. He hit Desperada and she disappeared into a cloud of yellow smoke and the guitar case that hung from her back hitting the ground.

"Good work!" Ladybug picked up the guitar case and, in an impressive display of strength, broke it over her knee. "No more evil-doing for you! Bye bye, little butterfly." With a throw of her lucky charm everything returned to normal and Vivica sat on the ground before them. Peace had been restored.

Aspik, although in shock, managed a slight smile. Unbelievable, I finally did it. It worked this time, it actually worked!

"This is usually reserved for Chat Noir..." Ladybug began, but trailed off.

Aspik froze. Oh yeah, the confession. He told her he was in love with her, that he was Chat Noir. Oh no, ohhhh no. This wasn't going to end well. Surely she was going to lecture him, it wouldn't be the first time, she'd lectured him when he was Chat Noir plenty of times before, but this was different.

"Pound it?" Ladybug asked, holding up her fist.

Aspik brought up his own, hesitant, and touched it to hers. "Pound it." he replied nervously.

"You did fantastic today, Aspik," Ladybug acknowledged, smiling. "Thanks for all your help. It's too bad Chat Noir wasn't here, sure would have been a lot easier with him. Ugh." Ladybug huffed and continued to mutter about the missing cat.

Aspik blinked a few times. Did she forget? Was he safe? Oh thank god! As soon as a wave of relief washed over him, Ladybug stopped mumbling about the cat.. Silence settled over them for several seconds, long enough for both of their miraculouses to sound their second chime.

Ladybug looked up at Aspik with wide eyes. "That's right!"

Aspik's stomach plummeted and his body froze.

"Y- yes, Ladybug?" He yelped, knowing she may have remembered again, remembered that he was Chat Noir.

"You," Ladybug said, her voice low. A stern look fell over her face as she grabbed his wrist, whisking him away. She was silent as they flew through the air, then landed on a nearby roof safe from public eye. Aspik's heart thudded painfully in his chest.

She definitely remembered.


	2. Chapter 2

"What were you _thinking_? Revealing your identity in _public_? In front of an _Akuma_?"

Both their miraculouses chirped for a second time while Ladybug criticised Aspik's mid-battle decision.

Adrien sighed. "Sass, scales rest." Without another word, Adrien returned the snake miraculous to the girl before him. He sat down on the rooftop, not yet lifting his head to look at her.

Ladybug took a deep breath and paused for a moment, deep in thought. "Are you really Chat Noir, Adrien?"

He reached into his pocket and took something out, returning the ring from his pocket to his right hand ring-finger where it belonged.

The black kwami appeared in an instant. "_Finally_ you've come to your senses," Plagg began his lecture. "What if Ladybug needed–" Plagg came to an abrupt stop as he turned around and spotted the hero in question. "Ohh… I uh, I gotta go, kid. We'll talk later."

Adrien sighed and opened his shirt pocket, revealing where he hid a piece of camembert.

"Y-you really–"

Adrien cut her off before she could continue. "Ladybug, I…" He looked up at her with conflict in his eyes. "I… I love you. I really do." He stood up, almost apprehensive - something very unlike him. Ladybug reached out his hand. "I don't have Chat Noir's confidence right now, but I'm telling the truth. I hope you'll believe me."

Ladybug pulled her hand away from his.

"You don't even know who I am. You have _no_ idea of the girl behind the mask, I–" she was stammering again, suddenly conscious of who she was talking to. "I'm… I'm not the same person. With the mask I'm confident, strong-willed, reliable, and nearly the opposite of regular me. Regular me, is clumsy, forgetful, overscheduled, and not to mention a _total_ dork."

Adrien took another step toward Ladybug. One hand came to rest at her shoulder, the other gently caressing her face. "You don't think I'd love the girl behind the mask too?"

Ladybug's face flushed red. Her miraculous chirped again: two minutes left. Adrien needed to make this quick.

"I don't care who the girl behind the mask is, I'd love her all the same. When her clumsiness makes her fall, I'll be there to catch her. When she forgets something, I'll call to remind her. When she's overscheduled I'll be there for moral support. Not to mention I have no problems with dorks, my lady." He winked with a sly smile and reached for her hand, bringing it to his lips to kiss.

Ladybug found herself giggling, her ears began to burn, threatening blush, but shook her head to clear her thoughts. "We're not supposed to know each other's identities! Hawk Moth, could use it against us. It would put our family and friends in danger!"

Adrien chuckled for a second. "But you already know my identity. No one will know if we know each other's identities, and we don't have to tell anyone. It'll be our little secret, _bugaboo_." He smiled. This was it - if she didn't accept him now, he felt he would just have to give up altogether. It would destroy him, break his heart, but he knew deep-down that he couldn't chase after someone who had no interest in him forever.

Ladybug struggled to find a response. He wasn't wrong, yet at the same time she was adamant that they shouldn't share their identities for safety, so why start now? Ladybug's miraculous chirped for the fourth time and she bit her lip. The boy she loved just confessed to her- no, to Ladybug.

She took a deep breath and started again, "Look Chat– Adrien. I just… I don't know if now's the right time. There's just so much going through my mind right now." She trailed off as Adrien looked at her. Eyes somber, he softly traced the back of her hand with his thumb.

"Just remember that I won't just love Ladybug, but the girl behind the mask too. You're both the same person after all." A small smile spread across his face, albeit forced. He released her hands and turned around. He paused for a second, hoping she'd say something before he left. "Plagg-"

"Adrien wait!" She called out to him. The small black kwami peeked out from the boy's pocket before crawling back inside.

"Yes, my lady?" Adrien asked, his eyes full of hope.

"I…" She paused. _Oh my god. Was it going to to finally happen?_ "Close your eyes and don't open them until I say so."

Adrien eagerly closed his eyes in wait. She took him by the hand, leading him to a more hidden area of the roof.

"Tikki, spots off."

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The DRAMA! Things gonna get spicy! follow me on twitter for updates! hoshikuzuhime


	3. Chapter 3

"Ladybug?" Adrien asked, eyes closed and brows raised. He reached out his hand, hoping to meet hers. A minute passed and nothing happened. No words, no movement, nothing. The cat and ladybug kwamis remain in silence to the side of the pair, floating about and flying circles around one another.

"I–" Marinette stammered, "I'm sorry!"

She called on her kwami and activated her powers. "Tikki, spots on." With that, Adrien heard the whir of her yo-yo trail off into the distance.

Adrien sunk down and hid his face in his hands. He held back the tears that were welling in his eyes. "Kid?" The voice of his kwami broke the silence.

"Plagg, not right now." Adrien let himself fall back onto the rooftop, looking into the sky. He stayed like that for a while. He may have considered giving up a few minutes ago, but he was so close. He could tell that Ladybug wanted to tell him, he just needed to be patient - it would happen eventually.

Adrien shot up like a rocket, suddenly bursting with energy. "I can do it! Just you wait, Plagg." The kwami popped out of his shirt pocket, a confused look across his face.

"Wha– "

"Plagg! Claws out!"

Plagg cried out as he was sucked into the black cat miraculous for the second time today. Adrien darted off to join his friends at the Couffaine residence. Surely they would be wondering where he was by now.

Once he'd arrived, everyone had already returned to normal after the Akuma was captured, chatting as if nothing had happened. "Yo dude, where have you been? Luka said he couldn't find you after Ladybug and the new snake hero captured the akuma."

Adrien laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. "I thought it would be best if we weren't hidden in the same room, you know, in case the akuma found us."

The group looked at him and nodded; it was a reasonable decision.

Adrien continued beyond the doorway to join his friends in conversation. "Hey Marinette." He greeted her as he walked by and toward Nino.

Marinette stumbled over her words, returning the greeting with a shy wave. "Hi Asp– er, Adrien..."

The happy, innocent expression she displayed when he walked in and the one she was currently displaying were a stark contrast. Now anyone there could tell she was uncomfortable just from looking at her. Did he do something wrong? She seemed fine before he said anything. "Sorry, I– uh… I gotta go." Without warning, Marinette left in haste.

"Woah," Alya exclaimed, "did something happen between you two?" She guestered between Marinette and Adrien. He shrugged - he hadn't seen her since before the akuma appeared.

Luka put his guitar down. "I'll make sure she's okay."

He followed in the direction she left from. For some inexplicable reason, the disappearance of Luka and Marinette was a little unsettling to Adrien, but he let them go. There was already enough drama with Ladybug and the superhero business going on.

Marinette didn't get far when she left the Couffaine's. She found herself sitting on a bench nearby, looking at the reflection of Paris in the water. This was going to be a very long school year if she couldn't figure out how to be in the same room as Adrien. Sure, she had problems being around him, speaking being the biggest obstacle. This was different though. Now that she knew _he_ was Chat Noir and that he'd been in love with her for as long as she'd been in love with him… how could she face him?

While deep in thought, a figure began to approach her. "Sorry to bother you Marinette, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You seemed pretty upset."

Marinette changed her focus from the reflection on the water to the person standing beside her. "Luka! I missed you." Marinette's face turned red when she realised what she said, Luka chuckled. "Er… what I _meant_ to say was, sorry, I didn't notice you!"

"Mind if I sit?" he asked, pointing at the empty space on the bench beside her. Marinette scooted over and patted the space beside her. "Thanks. So, what's on your mind?"

Marinette looked around desperately. Usually these roles were reversed and _she_ was the one checking up on her friends.

She hummed, "I...I just have some mixed feelings that I need to sort out. The water is really helping to calm me though. It's easy to get lost in the shimmering reflection of Paris." She smiled, her eyes sparkling in the light shining off the water.


	4. Chapter 4

Luka changed his focus from Marinette to the water in front of them. "That's my favourite thing about living on the river. It's not the first time I've sat on this bench."

Marinette giggled, it was nice to know someone shared her opinion.

"It's too bad," Luka clicked his tongue, "I should've brought my guitar so you could have had some peaceful music while you get lost in the sparkle of the water."

_That would have been nice. _Marinette was surprised he didn't have his guitar with him anyway, since he seemed to be glued to it.

Marinette contemplated what she'd learned today, and how she was going to react around Adrien and Chat Noir now. She felt so bad about what she'd done, but keeping her identity a secret was important.

"Luka," She said, keeping her focus on the water, but gaining his attention. "I've been… talking to my cousin who… has a bit of a problem."

Luka stifled a laugh.

Marinette continued, "He likes this girl he met in a game online, but he just found out she's also in his class! She doesn't know, and he doesn't know what he should do. Do you have any advice?" She hoped it wasn't too obvious it was actually about her, but there was no way he could know she or Adrien was a different person sometimes, could he?

Luka smiled, no one told a scenario like this unless it was about them. "Sounds like he just needs to tell her. I'm surprised you couldn't help, isn't giving advice something you do a lot?" Of course he was right.

Marinette's face became a shade of red and she suddenly turned toward him. "Huh? I– yeah, but I just couldn't– Ahhh!" She cried, burying her head in her hands, shaking her head.

Luka held out his hands reaching for her. "Woah! You okay?" He put a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her.

Marinette let her arms fall to her sides and her head droop. She looked back up at him, eyes begging for help. "I have so much on my mind I just don't know how to handle it all."

Luka sighed, he couldn't do much to help her if she didn't want to tell him what was going on. Though her having supported everyone else, he wanted to take the opportunity to support _her. _

He took Marinette's hand and stood up with a smile. "Come with me, I want to take you somewhere." She hesitated and looked back in the direction of the Couffaine residence. "Don't worry about them," Luka joked, "I'm sure they'll understand." Marinette slowly stood up, her hand in his. Luka walked quickly, pulling her along.

"Where are we going?" Marinette asked, tripping while trying to keep up with him until he suddenly stopped. He pointed up at the bridge crossing the river in front of them.

Marinette got excited at his response"Oh! A new view of Paris' reflection in the water! I've actually never looked from there!"

Luka laughed and let her up the hill and onto the bridge.

Marinette slowed down to admire the water's view from atop the bridge. "Wow, it really _is_ pretty." Luka smirked and let her enjoy the scenery while he left for a brief moment before retuning with two neat icecream cones and passed one to her.

"I actually brought you here because this is where André Glacier–" The famous icecream man in Paris. "–usually is."

Marinette's brain seemed to have stopped for a second, she blinked a few times and she was back in operation! She grabbed the cone, pulling herself back into reality. "Oh! Right, of course." She let out an awkward laugh. "Silly me." She said with a smile and tapped her forehead with her free hand.

The pair leaned against the railing, eating their icecream and enjoying the view. "You know Marinette, sometimes I think you would make a great Ladybug."

Marinette panicked. "What? Me? _Nooo…_" She trailed off, "I'm so clumsy! Plus I'd be too scared to fight, you've seen the akumas!" She waved her free hand in front of her and gave and awkward smile.

"But you're always so nice and try to help people." Luka explained. "You're a Ladybug in your own right if you ask me." He finished his icecream and turned to Marinette. "Once you're done your icecream, can you show me your favourite place in Paris?"

She nodded, ate the remaining bite of the crunchy cone, and began to lead the way.

Conveniently, they weren't far from her favourite place already. "This is my most _favourite_ place in all of Paris. My secret garden." Marinette explained as they climbed the stairs at Trocadéro. She sat down on one of the steps at the very top, right in the middle of the esplanade, facing the Eiffel Tower. Dozens of people, tourists and Parisians alike walked around them, all trying to get the best view, or the best picture with the Eiffel Tower and the fountain in the Trocadéro gardens, although Marinette didn't even seem to notice any of the people around her.

Elbows on knees, and her chin resting in her hands she became mesmerised by the view. Luka sat down beside her, so close they were touching. Marinette broke from her trance. "This is where I come when I need some time to myself, spite the amount of people, they view always puts me at ease." She told him, eyes remaining focused on the giant iron tower across the river.

"All this drama in you life has got you so bothered, but just looking at the scenery can put you at east? You must _really_ like Paris." Luka gave a caring smile. If only she didn't have such an obvious crush on Adrien he would've scooped her up right away. Not that he wasn't still trying.

A smile grew on her face, "I'd do anything for this city and its people." Luka smirked, he could hardly believe how selfless she was sometimes.

He put his arm around her and squeezed. "If you ever need anyone to talk to, or to lean on, you just let me know, okay Marinette?"

Her face bright red she replied, "I won't!" She paused for a moment. "I will! I mean I will. Thank you Luka."

* * *

Oh no, Luka. Now Marinette has to deal with if she likes Luka or Adrien more, AND Adrien as Chat Noir. This poor girl is going through so much.


	5. Chapter 5

Marinette paced in her room. Alya should be here any minute, surely she'd be able to help. Marinette would have to be careful not to compromise either her or Chat Noir's (Adrien's) identities though. She could always tell Alya that the third guy was one she'd known from the year before who moved away before Alya transferred into their school this year. It wouldn't be the same, but she was sure it would serve its purpose.

"Marinette, relax! I'm sure she'll be here soon!" The red kwami said, floating at eye level in front of her.

Marinette collapsed on her chaise lounge. The wait was killing her; The conversation was _going_ to kill her. She was both extremely excited and nervous.

"Marinette, Alya's here!" Her mother called from the other side of the trap door that lead to her bedroom. The door then creaked open and a familiar face appeared.

"Alya! Finally you're here!"

"Girl, what is up with you lately?" Alya crossed her arms after climbing the ladder into the room.

"This is a disaster!" Marinette cried, holding her head in her hands as if it were about to explode.

Alya steadied her friend, putting a hand on her shoulders and looking her in the eye. "You've got to tell me what's going on! Is this about Chloe?" Alya was demanding an answer, she'd been in the dark too long by her standards and it was time for Marinette to spill the beans.

The two sat down side by side on the chaise lounge and Marinette attempted to start an explanation. "Okay, so to explain everything we have to go back to before we met and you started going to Collège François Dupont."

"Oohh, this goes deep!" The brunette exclaimed.

"There was this guy, Jean. He had a _huge_ crush on me, but I didn't really see him like that, we were just good friends! Before you started going to François Dupont he moved away. We recently reconnected online and he hasn't changed on bit! I kinda think I might even have feelings for him now." She hoped that was believable enough.

"How come you never told me about this guy?"

Marinette panicked, she couldn't just say it was because he didn't exist! "Well, he moved and we stopped talking! We only reconnected this week!" Was that enough to appease Alya? There had to be some things she didn't tell her, right?

"So you want my advice since you obviously still like Adrien too?"

Marinette hesitated and tapped her two index fingers together. "Well… You see…" She slowly started to explain, albeit quietly and reserved. "The other day at Juleka's when I left and Luka came out…"

Alya's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "Oh my god." She brought a hand up to cover her face. "Don't tell me… You kind of like him too?"

Marinette displayed her trademark awkward smile and nodded.

Alya sighed, "This is the weirdest love square I've ever seen."

"What do I do Alya?" Marinette in her fluster considered the three – no – two boys again. Luka was nice, caring, calm, and had no secret identities. Although Adrien was also nice, caring, handsome, perfect… She shook the thoughts from her head. On the other hand, Adrien was also Chat Noir, who was overconfident and cocky, but she also knew how deeply he cared for her. Marinette explained the predicament to her best friend – leaving out the details of Chat Noir.

Alya listened carefully, sighing with a soft smile. What was Alya going to do with her ever-frazzled friend? "Alright girl. You and I both you you've liked Adrien the longest. Sure these other two guys might like you too, but who do _you_ like?"

Marinette sat in silence. Alya was right. She liked Chat and Luka, but not as much as Adrien. Alya didn't know that Jean was actually meant to be Chat, where her admiration for both Adrien and Chat actually worked out for her, since Chat and Adrien were the same person. Marinette squirmed thinking of the answer to Alya's question. Even though everyone knew, it still made her nervous to tell people. "Adrien." Marinette managed to mumble out a reply.

Alya smiled. "So who are you going to confess your feelings to tomorrow?"

Marinette took a deep breath in, "Adrie– What? What?! I can't tell him tomorrow! I'm not prepared!"

Alya laughed, holding her stomach. "Girl, I'm just kidding! You should have seen the look on your face!"

Marinette huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

Alya's laugh slowed to a stop. "You really do have to tell him one of these days. A guy like him isn't going to stay single forever."

She was right, Marinette looked down, trying to decide what she should do, it had to be soon afterall. Maybe her promise to Chat was for the best.

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If I somehow manage to finish writing part 30 (I'm currently writing part 16) before part 10 is published, I'll start publishing 2 parts per week.  
Follow me on twitter for updates hoshikuzuhime


	6. Chapter 6

Adrien's phone played _The Girl With Flaxen Hair_, a piece by Debussy, as it sat atop the grand piano. He leaned against the foosball table and stared out the window thoughtfully. He contemplated who his lady could be. Was she really going to tell him after the next akuma attack? Did he _really_ want to know? He let out a long sigh.

A small floating black figure came toward him. "Whoa, I can almost see the steam coming from your ears! What are you thinking about?"

Adrien scoffed, his kwami wasn't always the nicest, but it would be wrong to say he didn't like him anyway. Adrien thought out loud what he'd do if Ladybug didn't tell him. "I know I've been chasing after Ladybug forever now, but what if she doesn't accept me Plagg?"

Plagg rubbed his tiny paw against Adrien's forehead. Adrien remained unmoving, albeit a little surprised. Plagg didn't often show affection, and Adrien would categorize this as such for the lil' guy. Plagg let go of Adrien and turned around. "Well, even if you don't learn her identity – which you're not supposed to know anyway – you'll still find love. What about that Marinette girl?" The kwami stifled a laugh. Of course Plagg knew Marinette was Ladybug, but he couldn't tell Adrien. Therefore he would revel in the thought of the kid changing his love interest from one person to the _same person _without knowing.

Adrien smiled, despite being the kwami of destruction, he sure was nice sometimes. "Plagg, you're a good friend." He pulled the kwami into his chest for a forced hug.

"Eww! Let go of me!" Plagg slipped out of Adrien's hold and floated back a foot in front of him. "You know, I could just _tell_ you Ladybug's identity, buuuut my sugar cube would get mad at me. Plus, you're not supposed to know, so..." He trailed off.

Adrien laughed at Plagg's mention of 'his sugar cube'. By 'sugar cube' he must mean Ladybug's kwami. Who else could it be? The realisation hit him and his face froze. "Wait. You know who Ladybug is?!"

The kwami keeled over in laughter at Adrien's reaction and wiped a tear from his eye. Adrien's reaction was even better than he'd hoped! "You think I had _my_ eyes closed too when you two detransformed in front of each other when you fought The Dark Owl?" Adrien's jaw dropped. Plagg flew over, and lifted Adrien's mouth shut. "Don't worry, I won't tell you who she is. You've gotta figure out these feelings for yourself." With that, the kwami flew off to the spot where he hid his cheese.

Adrien sat down at his desk and turned on his computer, then clicked on the browser. He was completely focused on the task at hand. Were they meant to be? Should he continue to pursue her? Should he just live his life as-is? The browser loaded his homepage – The Ladyblog. He quickly typed 'Dark Owl' into the in-site search function and clicked on the first result: a video accompanied by a blog post and a series of pictures, like every article depicting their battles. There weren't many photos of this battle since most of it was inside a closed arena, not that he thought for a second that anyone caught untransformed Ladybug.

He skimmed through the blog post Alya wrote about the battle and then rewatched Nadja's news coverage. Nothing new, but why would there be? He'd been so close to Ladybug when she was detransformed so many times, but he never got any closer to knowing her identity.

Adrien returned to the site's search bar and typed 'O' before it auto-completed and hit enter. He clicked the first result for Oblivion and scrolled down to the photo gallery and enlarged one image in particular. He held his head in his hands and just stared at his computer.

Plagg floated up behind him. "Ugh, this again?"

Adrien threw up a hand and waved Plagg away. If he managed to get his lady to fall in love with him once, it was possible to do it again, but there really was no guarantee. That was under very weird circumstances and there was no way it could be replicated.

He closed the browser window. He knew he'd see this picture again. The picture of when he'd kissed his lady after defeating Oblivion again another time.

Adrien got up and moved to the couch, picking up his controller for a game of Ultimate Mecha Strike. He was interrupted when his phone went off. He picked it up and looked at who the message was from. Marinette? That was odd, she didn't usually message him.

Marinette 8:24PM - "Hey Adrien, I was moving if you'd like to see a wonder?"

Marinette 8:24PM - "Wondering if you'd like to see a movie!"

He chuckled. He considered a movie, but then remembered the chaos the last time he went to one. He shook his head free of the memory and started tapping away at a reply.

Adrien 8:25PM - "How about some Ultimate Mecha Strike instead? I'd love to have some more of your parents' quiche again too."

Marinette 8:25PM - "Yes! I'd love to!"

Adrien 8:26PM - "How's tomorrow at 2pm sound? I've got fencing before that, so I can walk over to your house afterwards."

Marinette 8:26PM - "You're perfect."

Marinette 8:26PM - "Sounds perfect!"

Adrien 8:27PM - "It's a date :)"


	7. Chapter 7

Marinette becomes a tomato. Mer crimmis and all that

* * *

Marinette sat alone at the kitchen table. She was hardly aware of her surroundings and was far too overwhelmed by the thought of _the _Adrien Agreste coming over shortly. Sabine removed the plate from in front of her. It'd been almost an hour since Marinette sat down for a midday snack, she claimed she didn't want to eat lunch now when she could share it with Adrien!

"Marinette, did you make sure to clean your room before your friend comes over?"

Marinette immediately sat up straight, eyes wide, imagining all the posters she had on her bedroom walls of the model-friend that would be there within the next ten minutes.

"Oh my god." She whispered under her breath. She slid off the bar stool and dashed upstairs to her room.

"You're welcome!" Sabine called after her.

Marinette frantically pulled down all the posters and stashed them into a box under her bed.

"Tikki you have to hide!" She cried out in a panic to the kwami that had been watching her in silence.

"Marinette, relax!"

"I can't relax Tikki! Adrien's coming over and he said it was a-" She began to stammer, "daze, a dairy." She paused, scrunching up her face trying to focus on the word she wanted. "A date!" She put the last photo in the box and slide it under her bed.

"Marinette!" Sabine called up to her, "Adrien's here!"

A look of panic took over Marinette and she waved her hand to tell Tikki to hide. She opened the trap door and climbed down the stairs to meet Adrien below.

"Hi Marinette," Adrien paused, noticing she was out of breath. "Are you okay?"

She took a deep breath to calm herself "Yeah! I'm fine. Totally cool." Which she followed up with her trademark awkward laugh.

Sabine broke the silence that remained. "Well you kids have fun, I'll bring up some quiche in a bit."

Adrien's face lit up in excitement. He'd been daydreaming about eating this quiche all day. Of course he was glad to see Marinette too! The quiche was just an added bonus, a really delicious bonus.

"Let's go up to my room." Marinette said, pointing to the trapdoor nestled in the top corner of the room.

The pair climbed up and sat down in front of her computer where she'd set up the console to her monitor earlier for Ultimate Mecha Strike. Marinette picked up the controller and just stared at the screen, hoping Adrien wouldn't notice how uncomfortable she was.

Before he picked up the controller to play, Adrien turned to Marinette, "What made you decide to ask to hang out with me today? I know we're friends, but you never seem at ease around me." It bothered him that she always seemed anxious around him, and he wanted to change that. Though not knowing the reason made that a little more difficult.

Marinette laughed, "How could I feel at ease when the guy I have this huge crush on is right beside me?"

Adrien's mouth fell open and a light blush dusted his cheeks.

Marinette covered her mouth. "Did I just say that out loud?"

Adrien nodded silently and Marinette's face turned a bright shade of red.

"This is a disaster." She muffled into her palms.

"Do you actually mean that?"

Marinette nodded subtly and peeked through her fingers to try to gauge his response. Adrien stood up from the chair prompting Marinette to close the gap between her fingers, blocking her view as she let out a nervous squeal.

Adrien took a step toward her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into an embrace. Her hands now pressed between her face and Adrien's chest, she didn't know how to react. had stopped working and she wasn't sure if she would ever recover.

Adrien leaned down so their faces were at the same level. He reached for Marinette's hands and gently pulled them away from her face and down to her knees, revealing her blushing face. He smiled at her, but she tried to look anywhere but at him.

"Marinette," The smile on his face grew as he averted his gaze for a moment before continuing. "I'm flattered. I didn't think you liked me in that kind of way."

Hope filled Marinette's eyes, was her dream finally coming true? Or would it be completely crushed because she knew he was in love with Ladybug.

Since his awkward conversation with Ladybug as Chat Noir, Adrien felt that maybe he shouldn't put so much emotional faith in her. He'd been so head over heels for so long that he'd never stopped to consider how she truly felt and if they would be able to have a relationship and remain heroes of Paris.

Adrien had always seen Marinette as a friend, but lately he'd realised that she'd always been there for him. She was caring, thoughtful, and always looking out for others. He'd said it himself at the hero's day picnic; She was an everyday Ladybug, or at least she was in spirit. This was his chance to take a step away from his fleeting feelings for Ladybug since their discussion, and her rejection, after their last battle.

Adrien let go of her hands and sat back down at his chair, facing her. "I know I always said you were just a friend, but if you'd be okay with it," He paused for a moment, putting a restless hand on the back of his neck. "Maybe we can explore these feelings?"

Marinette's face managed to turn an even brighter shade of red and she fought the urge to cover it with her hands again, but instead bit her lip.

"Is that okay?" He asked again, with an expression of worry this time.

She nodded without saying another. Was she even capable of speech at this point? She didn't really want to test it in case she could only manage a squeal, or something else that would embarrass her even more.

Adrien picked up his controller. "Now, how about we play some of this?" He held it up gesturing toward the monitor and gave her a wink.

Marinette died inside a little. This is not at all what she had intended to happen, but she was quite okay with the result of their date? Was this a date? Adrien called it a date in his text. _Oh my god_.

This was the first time Marinette lost a match of Ultimate Mecha Strike to Adrien.

* * *

Made sure to clarify a few details people have mentioned. More will be explained in future parts, I go over these at least 3 times before I publish to makes sure I don't miss anything.

Follow me on twitter for updates hoshikuzuhime


	8. Chapter 8

Marinette sat in class listening to Mlle. Bustier's lesson on grammar. It was probably her least favourite subject, seeing as how complicated it could be. She should really pay attention for the same reason, but she couldn't help but drift off into the clouds and daydream.

She was broken from her trance by a buzz coming from her bag. She stealthily took out the source of the sound, resting her phone on her thigh. When she looked at the message, she was surprised to see the sender was Adrien. Marinette didn't even notice him do anything other than take notes this class. He didn't seem like the type to break the rules, but there were exceptions to everything.

Adrien3 11:34AM - "Lunch together? I haven't had anything sweet in weeks and I would die for one of your dad's pain au chocolat."

Marinette felt her face heat up. She took a few deep breaths before anyone noticed her blush while supposedly learning subjonctif plus que parfait. What was that tense anyway? Instead of taking a simple sentence like 'que j'aurais été' you would instead conjugate it to 'que j'eusse été'? It didn't even sound like French anymore. There was no way that was something to blush about.

She looked back down at her phone and slowly tapped out a response, looking up frequently to make sure Mlle. Bustier wasn't staring at her. Marinette finally finished the message and hit send. She kept an eye on Adrien so she knew when to expect a text back.

Not thirty seconds later Marinett saw Adrien take his phone from his pocket. He quickly texted a response, then return the phone to his pocket again without anyone noticing. He must have done this before, he was too good at being sneaky.

Adrien3 11:35AM - "I like the way you think, Mari."

Marinette quickly hit the sleep button on her phone, hoping the message wouldn't register in her brain that Adrien had given her a nickname. She felt her ears warm as she dropped her phone back into her bag. _Whoops too late_. She put extra focus into the remainder of the lesson to try and distract herself.

The chime sounded signaling the end of class and Mlle. Bustier clapped her hands to regain the attention of the class before they all left for lunch.

"Don't forget after lunch we'll be doing a special activity so please be on time."

"Yes Mlle. Bustier." The class chorused before they all began to trickle out of the room.

"This new crêpe vendor set up shop a block over, Nino and I were gonna go check it out, wanna come with?"

Marinette turned to her friend, "Sorry Alya, I uh…" She stalled to try to come up with an excuse that didn't explicitly say _I have a lunch date with Adrien_. "I already have plans for lunch?" Her voice rose an octave as she spoke so as to make the statement more like a question. Marinette gave a shrug and looked everyone _but_ at Alya to avoid further questioning.

Alya was taken slightly aback. It wasn't like Marinette to make plans without her. Something _must_ have been up.

Marinette closed her books and stepped out from behind her desk. Adrien stood before her, waiting patiently.

"Ready to go Mari?"

Well so much for leaving Alya in the dark for a bit. Marinette was going to get interrogated about this after school and there was no way around it now. She didn't look back to see Alya's reaction, she almost didn't want to know.

Marinette nodded at Adrien and walked out of the classroom with him. Before they got to the stairs, they could hear Alya exclaim; "_What_ was that?"

Adrien let out a small chuckle. Surely Nino would say something to him, though it would probably be nothing compared to Alya's reaction.

Once they arrived at the Dupain-Cheng Bakery they were greeted by Sabine who was restocking the display case with fresh pastries for the lunch rush. They walked past the line at the counter and Marinette stepped behind the case to hug her mom.

"I didn't know you were bringing someone for lunch." Sabine mentioned, gesturing toward Adrien who stood only a few feet away.

"He said he wants one of Papa's pain au chocolat! Also maybe a croissant and some cheese for me?" Marinette asked, eyeing the still-warm croissants on the tray that Sabine was about to put in the display case. Sabine smiled and put a variety of pastries on a tray and sent the pair upstairs.

Adrien sat down at the kitchen table and got to know one of the pain au chocolat that Sabine had given them while Marinette got herself some cheese to go with her bread.

Adrien grinned like a fool as he bit into the pastry with chunks of chocolate strewn about. _Oh chocolate, how could anyone live without you?_

Marinette sat down across from him at the table, "Good?" She asked as she cut a piece of a baguette and topped it with some brie before taking a bite.

Adrien licked the chocolate from his fingers. "Amazing." He picked up another and took a bite, repeating the same process as before.

Marinette giggled, "Have as many as you like, what's mine is yours."

Adrien smiled, "Thanks Mari."

She blushed at his comment. _Mari_.

"Sorry, is it okay if I call you Mari?" He asked, a look of concern spread across his face.

Marinette nodded excessively. "Please do!"

* * *

I had to do research on chocolatine vs pain au chocolat for this because people get all uppity if you say the "wrong one", but really let's judge everyone in Ontario, Canada who call them croissant au chocolat.

Also, Mari.


	9. Chapter 9

The bell chimed and the class eagerly awaited Mlle. Bustier's special activity. The room was full of rumors of what the activity could be.

"I heard she's letting us have a party."

"I heard we're getting a special speaker."

"No, no, you're all wrong. Every year there's a park clean up, I'm sure that's it."

The rumors hushed as Mlle. Bustier entered the classroom. She clapped her hands to get everyone's attention.

"This afternoon we'll be doing something to help build trust between each other and remind ourselves we're all good friends even through all these akuma attacks." She explained to the excited class.

Tension rose in the classroom, this could be something fun! It all depends on your definition of team building and what constitutes a trust activity. Although from what they'd heard, it couldn't be _that_ bad. It wasn't a park clean up at least.

"I've organised a scavenger hunt!" Mlle. Bustier announced and oohs and ahhs could be heard throughout the classroom followed by whispers. The students looked around the room at each other, silently making agreements on teams. No one wanted to be the last one out, caught without a team and stuck in a random group.

Mlle. Bustier pulled a cardboard box with a hold in it from a drawer in her desk. "We're going to draw names for teams instead of choosing our own."

The class groaned in unison. Their comfortable, fun, afternoon scavenger hunt was about to get a lot less fun and a lot more uncomfortable. All their silent agreements for teams went out the window and they anxiously awaited who might be their teammates now.

"I've already put everyone's names in, you'll be working in teams of three, so when I call your name please find your team." Mlle. Bustier started pulling names from the box. "Sabrina, you'll be teamed with…" She paused and took two more names from the box. "...Max and Adrien." She said with a smile, gesturing for the team to gather at the front of the room.

She drew two more names from the box, "Alya, Alix…" She took another name from the box, "and Kim!"

Marinette let out an audible sigh. Neither Alya nor Adrien would be on her team. Maybe it was for the best this way, no teasing or embarrassment from Adrien, and no questions from Alya _about_ Adrien. Although that meant Chloe and Lila had a higher chance of being on her team now. Marinette shuddered at the thought.

Mlle. Bustier called out two more teams while Marinette pondered the situation. Chloe, Mylene, and Ivan were on one team. Rose, Juleka, and Lila were on the other. That just left…

"That leaves Marinette, Nathaniel, and Nino as the final team." Mlle. Bustier announced.

Marinette let out a sigh of relief. She could have thought of much worse ways for this to turn out.

Lila and Chloe weren't on her team, and Nino was! Sure, she would probably get a few questions about Adrien from Nino because Alya would surely force him, but she could accept that.

The groups rearranged themselves to sit with their teams for their first instruction. Mlle. Bustier turned on the projector which readily displayed a riddle.

'Built thousands of years ago of sand, a structure of

the same name with a variation of the same material

now exists in Paris. Find this for you next clue'.

The class filled with whispers of where their first location could be. There were many old structures and archaeological relics of the past. Something made out of sand was a stretch though.

"Before any of you leave, it's 1 PM now, please be sure to return here by 3:45 PM _no matter what_. All of your clues will be found in boxes with a sign with our school's name, so be sure to be on the lookout. And remember, this is all for fun. However, there _is_ a reward for every team that finishes before 3:45 PM and can show me all the clue papers." Mlle. Bustier instructed the class to ensure everyone remained safe and had a good idea of what's to be expected throughout the hunt.

Murmurs rose again in the classroom. Between discussions on the location of the first clue and what the prize could be, everyone was talking. Before anyone was able to leave, Mlle. Bustier stood in front of the door and looked at her watch.

"Ready?" She asked the class, a smile growing on her face as she looked at the excitement in her students' faces. "Good luck!" She said as she moved away from the door, allowing the first quick groups to get through. "Don't run in the halls!" Mlle. Bustier called out the door after them.

* * *

Next week I'm going to start posting parts bi-weekly! I'm currently writing part 26 so get hype!

follow me on twitter hoshikuzuhime for updates~


	10. Chapter 10

Scavenger Hunt Part 1: Marinette uses Ladybug knowledge of the city and takes her team through some shortcuts. Alya tries to get nosy.

* * *

Marinette stood at the front of the class with Nino and Nathaniel. She read the question again aloud, "Built thousands of years ago of sand, a structure of the same name and a variation of the same material now exists in Paris."

It grew silent as they were deep in though. Nino adjusted his hat and furrowed his brow. "Man this is tricky."

Marinette's face lit up as the realization hit her.

"Where are we going dude?" Nino asked after noticing her reaction.

Marinette looked around, seeing the few other teams there were still trying to figure out the clue. "Follow me." She told them, taking their hands and leading them outside and down the street, away from the ears of classmates listening in for her answer. "The Louvre!" She shouted, excitement filled her voice.

Nathaniel piped up for the first time since they became a team, "You're right, the pyramid out front. The Egyptians built them thousands of years ago of sandstone and the pyramid at the Louvre is made of glass! It's just melted sand!"

Marinette nodded, "Exactly!"

Nino shrugged and followed the other two; They seemed to know where they were supposed to go.

"Say…" Nino started, "Marinette, what's up with you and Adrien today?"

Nathaniel put his hand down, hiding behind his hair, trying to focus on the main task at hand.

Nino continued to question Marinette, "First you turn down plans with Alya and I, then Adrien asks if you're ready and you leave together? Seems mighty suspicious dude."

Marinette turned to face Nino, but noticed Nathaniel trying to ignore their conversation. How could Nino forget that Nathaniel had feelings for her and still talk about Adrien right in front of him? "Oh, that?" She paused to find the perfect excuse. "He asked if my parents had pain au chocolat at their bakery." She noticed Nathaniel take a breath of relief and return to his normal, albeit quiet, self.

Nino squinted at her, there was obviously more to it than that, but this would be enough to please Alya when she asked him.

The team arrived at the Louvre and saw a sign with their school's name on it and a small box on the ground below, just like Mlle. Bustier had told them. Marinette reached inside and found their next clue.

"What does it say?" Nathaniel asked, clearly interested and excited by the activity.

"One of the oldest buildings in Paris is also said to contain a forest." Marinette read aloud.

Nino shrugged, "Sorry, I've got nothing."

Marinette tapped her forehead, "Oldest building...Well there's a really old building on Volta street, and Nicolas Flamel's house is old…"

"But how do they relate to forests?" Nathaniel asked. "What about Notre Dame?"

Marinette hummed, "It's nearby, very old, and most of it is built of wood. Probably enough that it could have taken a whole forest to build!"

Nino furrowed his brow and his mouth fell open. "How? How do you know this?"

Marinette shrugged and smiled at him. "I've done a lot of tourism in this city."

"Let's hurry up." Nathaniel told them, and started toward the Cathedral.

The rest of the team followed suite. Nathaniel took them a direct route, but Marinette ran off to the left and motioned for them to follow her.

"I know a shortcut, this way!" She called to them.

A confused Nino asked again, "How do you know all this?"

* * *

Meanwhile, not far from the school was team number two: Alix, Kim, and Alya.

"We've got to go to the obelisk!" Yelled Kim, but Alix wasn't listening.

"Don't be ridiculous! We've got to go to the Louvre, right Alya?" Alix asked, trying to get Alya to side with her.

Alya just shook her head. "They're talking about the glass pyramid at the Louvre. The Egyptians built both, but the pyramids were from sandstone, melted sand turns to glass." She explained to both her teammates, but mainly to Kim.

Kim made a sound that could only be described as frustration meets defeat. "We should at least go there by the river."

Alix let out an annoyed sigh, "Why would we do that?"

Alya cleared her throat to get their attention before their argument turned into another fight. "Alright children, we're here to be friends to avoid more akumas, not make them." She explained with a laugh, then started toward the Louvre. "I've got enough experience chasing Ladybug around, just follow me and I'll get us there."

Alix and Kim both reluctantly agreed and began to follow her down the street in the direction of the glass pyramid.

"Hey kim," Alix started.

Alya held her breath, please don't be another argument. She'd had enough of kids fighting from babysitting her little twin sisters.

Alix let out a sly smiled before she continued, "Race you there?" She asked, already getting into position.

Alya's eyes widened. She may have said she chased Ladybug, but that didn't mean she was athletic in the slightest. She didn't mean that she chased Ladybug literally. Oh no. She though, she was either going to have to run, or manage to convince the class sports rivals not to race. The latter of which seemed unlikely.

"You're on!" Kim took off with a sprint and Alix followed close behind on her rollerblades.

That left Alya behind, without the athletic ability to catch up. "Guys! You were supposed to follow me!" She called out before they were out of earshot. When they didn't stop she groaned and reluctantly started to run after them.

When Alya finally caught up to Alix and Kim, all three were out of breath, but at least they were almost at their destination. While they walked the rest of the way, Alya thought it would be a good opportunity to ask them if they knew what was up with Marinette and Adrien. "Have you guys noticed anything…" She paused to find the right adjective to describe the situation. "...unusual about Marinette or Adrien?"

Alix shrugged, "Nothing more than her usual inability to talk to him." She joked.

Kim thought for a moment. "Actually…" he started. Alya's eyes lit up with excitement, maybe he saw them outside of school. Kim continued, "I did see them together during lunch when they weren't with anyone else."

Alya's confusion only intensified. Hopefully Nino got some better info from Marinette for her.

"Shouldn't you know this anyway?" Alix asked, wondering why Alya would even ask them in the first place.

Alya sighed, "I wish."

* * *

I finished writing and I'm currently typing up part 25! Parts will now be uploaded every Wednesday and Sunday to give my editor time to look though everything and me to make any necessary changes.

Only 16 weeks (April 29th will be the day the last part is uploaded on this schedule) until the whole fic is published LOL


	11. Chapter 11

Scavenger Hunt Part 2: Lila is a little shit. Adrien is a sad boy.

* * *

As Marinette's team left the location of the first clue at the Louvre, Lila, Rose, and Juleka were off in the distance. They were going at a slow, somewhat steady pace.

"Sorry we can't run or try to get there quickly like the other teams." Lila said, putting an obviously fake limp in her step every once and a while. "It's just my knee. After I fell last week it's been hard to walk ever since." As usual, Lila was faking an injury to try to gain sympathy from her classmates.

"Don't worry about it Lila! Juleka and I aren't much for running anyway." Rose tried to console their classmate, and Juleka nodded in agreement.

"But now you two probably won't get the prize! I'm sorry…" Lila trailed off and looked away as she spoke.

In reality she wanted the prize, but didn't want to have to do anything. Unfortunately that wasn't possible in this situation so she opted to just walk around casually and enjoy the day.

Rose smiled, "That's okay, I don't mind and I'm sure Juleka doesn't either."

Juleka shook her head and mumbled something quietly which neither of them could hear.

"No, it's not." Lila continued to protest, "I'll try to walk faster." She insisted and began to pick up pace.

Rose and Juleka started to walk faster to keep up with her, but it wasn't even two minutes before Lila dramatically fell to the ground holding her knee. Rose knelt down beside her, "Are you okay? Should we go back to the school?"

Lila's eyes widened at the thought and she vigorously shook her head. As much as she didn't want to do anything, she didn't want to have to be under supervision either, which would likely be what would happen if they went back to their school. "It's okay, I can deal with the pain. I don't want you guys to have to miss out on all the fun after all."

Rose gave a concerned smile and helped Lila stand back up. "How about we all hold hands to keep the pace and to make sure you don't fall Lila?" Lila tried to decline, this would make it harder for her to be as dramatic as possible, and she didn't want that. Putting on this act was fun for her, but she was outnumbered. Rose lent her hand to Lila for balance. Lila let out a sigh and took her help.

Shortly after they arrived at the Louvre, they met with Sabrina, Max, and Adrien. The two teams waved at each other and Adrien's team left for the second location.

Juleka took the next clue from the marked box and passed it to Rose who read it aloud. "One of the oldest buildings in Paris is also said to contain a forest."

The group stood in silence while they thought. After a moment Lila spoke up, "Is it Notre Dame?" She asked her teammates.

Juleka looked a bit confused, and surprised, as to why Lila knew this so quick, but Rose asked for her, "What makes you think that?"

Lila thought for a moment again. What would be believable? "Well my Grandma's Great-Uncle's fourth cousin twice removed built it and my Grandma said each beam is made from one tree."

Rose looked at her, eyes sparkling in amazement. "Wow! That's so cool!"

How stupid. Lila thought as she kept in a laugh, why would they believe that she was related to the builder of Notre Dame? These fools would believe anything.

* * *

Sabrina lead her team confidently through the streets of Paris, looking every once in a while at her phone, making sure they were headed in the right direction.

"We'll be there in three minutes if we keep up this pace." She told her teammates, Adrien and Max.

The group retained an awkward silence, the three had never really interacted for an extended period like this before.

When their scheduled three minutes were up, they arrived on time at their second location; Notre Dame. Sabrina eagerly took the note from the box before the other two were close enough to try to get to it first.

Adrien tried to stop her before she read it to herself and attempted to find the answer alone again. "Wait! You don't have to do this by yourself, what does it say?" He called ahead to Sabrina, hoping to feel useful. For the first clue she told them where they needed to go and already had a route planned out before they even got to say anything.

Sabrina was taken aback, "But then what will I do?" She asked Adrien, unmoving, the clue still in her hand.

Adrien caught up and stood beside her. "The same as you have been, we could help you figure out the location of the clue of course."

Max stood beside the two of them and added on to what Adrien told her. "I'm quite informed on the history of Paris." He said, adjusting his glasses with a smirk he starting boasting about his knowledge, "Did you know that the Eiffel Tower was built in 1889 for the World's Fair and was only meant to stay up for twenty years?"

Adrien held out his hand for the slip of paper with the clue written on it. Sabrina hesitantly passed it to him.

"May I?" Max asked, a glimmer of curiosity in his eye.

Max adjusted his glasses to read the clue. "If you stood atop Notre Dame you would see a big garden with a pond at the centre and palm trees surrounding it." Max paused, a quizzical look took over. "Where are there palm trees in Paris?" He asked the group in a partially rhetorical matter.

"Let me check what parks are nearby." Sabrina pulled out her phone and started tapping away.

Adrien's face suddenly lit up. He knew exactly where this was! He'd actually been on top of Notre Dame as Chat Noir. "Guys I know where this is! It's the Gardens of Luxembourg!" He was so excited to know the answer. Had Marinette been there the look on his face would have melted her heart even more so than anything else he'd done.

"It is!" Sabrina responded and showed a photo of the garden's pond on her phone.

As the group left for the gardens, Adrien thought to ask Max about Ladybug. It was sudden, but he seemed to know a lot of information and knew about probability. Maybe he would be able to tell him the chances that Ladybug lived nearby or something. "Max, who do you think Ladybug is?"

Max looked at Adrien confused. "That's odd to ask, but I've done some research on our heroes and i think there's a good chance that they both actually go to our school and should be around our age based on height and other physical clues."

Adrien didn't ask Max anything else about Ladybug. The amount that he knew about them made him back off, he didn't want anyone else to find out, he wanted to know and keep the information all to himself.

* * *

admit it. you all thought Lila was going to cause an akuma.


	12. Chapter 12

Scavenger Hunt Part 3: Chloe is...Chloe

* * *

Here they were, just having reached the first location. They all knew they were the last ones to get there. Mylène reached inside the box, only a single slip of paper remained, confirming their suspicions. They would have gotten there faster had the circumstances been different. Both Mylène and Ivan knew why they'd only just arrived, even though nearly 45 minutes had gone by already.

Chloe stood behind them, checking her reflection in a small handheld mirror. Mylène and Ivan looked at each other, silently ensuring the other that they would be done with this soon and to just bear with it for now.

"Oh my god, can you hurry it up? This is taking forever, just read the clue and lets get going. Sabrina would have been done by now." Chloe demanded, shooting some sort of angry pout at Mylène.

Mylène took a deep breath and began to read the clue aloud, "One of the oldest–"

Chloe scoffed, "Shut up! That's not what I meant. Just figure it out and lets go. None of this talking to me nonsense." She returned to adjusting her hair in the mirror. Chloe wanted to get through this and pretend as if Mylène and Ivan weren't even there.

Mylène couldn't believe what Chloe said. Did she realise this was supposed to be a team activity? Did she care? She'd already complained and ordered them around for the last hour on how they should have gone to the Louvre and why this was a stupid – actually the exact words she'd used was that this activity was 'ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.' But utterly ridiculous what Mylène was thinking about Chloe right now.

For the fourth, maybe fifth time in the last hour, Mylène reminded herself this wouldn't last forever and to keep calm. She didn't want to become Hawk Moth's next victim afterall.

"Hurry up!" Chloe sang at her.

This girl was really testing Mylène's patience.

After finally reading the clue for herself and doing a little research, Mylène came to the conclusion as to where they had to go next. "Come on Chloe, Ivan. We're going to Notre Dame now." Her voice was void of emotion, and it was clear Mylène wasn't enjoying this activity at all. She just wanted to get this all over with as soon as possible.

"I'm thirsty." Chloe stated. "Go fetch me something to drink Mylène." Chloe brushed off Mylène, shooing her away.

Mylène let out another big sigh and turned around. She started in the direction of a nearby corner store. Her head down, she bumped straight into Ivan's arm which was blocking her way.

"Chloe you can't talk to Mylène like that, she's not your servant!" Ivan put his other arm around Mylène, holding onto her as if he had to physically protect her from Chloe's toxicity.

"What?" Chloe was taken aback, it wasn't often someone defied her, and especially spoke up against her. Unless of course you were Marinette Dupain-Cheng. These two were supposed to be quiet though, what were they doing defying her?

Ivan took a step toward Chloe, "We're not going to do everything for you. If you want to go back to the school, fine. If you want to follow us in silence, fine. But you can't command us and boss us around like we owe it to you."

You could say that Chloe was flabbergasted. The expression on her face said it all, but she wasn't going to let them get the better of Chloe Bourgeois! "Do you know who I am?" She demanded, making sure she could see the anger levels in Ivan rise.

"Ivan stop, let's just keep going. I already figured out where to go next." Mylène tried to calm him down, but to no avail.

Ivan didn't change his focus and moved Mylène behind him like a Mama trying to protect their young.

"I am Chloe Bourgeois! Daughter of the Mayor of Paris!"

Before Ivan could respond, he was overcome with his emotion. Suddenly nothing other than his hatred toward Chloe, and that he needed to protect Mylène mattered. The morals he had flew back and forth in his head, fighting the intense emotions he felt. Was it worth it to fight? Chloe was one of the most – if not the most – cruel person he knew. He'd had enough of her demands today. It was time to put a stop to Chloe Bourgeois once and for all.

"Protector."

Ivan heard a voice call out to him. Was it someone nearby? No, the voice was coming from inside him. Someone was talking to him from within his head.

"My name is Hawk Moth. You're dear sweet love has been berated and been demanded of by Chloe Bourgeois. I will give you the power to turn anyone you want into stone at will to protect your love. In return, I ask that you must give my Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous."

Ivan looked up, the signature purple mask around his eyes. "Yes Hawk Moth."

* * *

Yes, yes I am using stoneheart but altered. I can be creative I swear-

I've set up a and I'll be posting new chapters there a week in advance! /hoshikuzuhime


	13. Chapter 13

Rip Chat

* * *

Everyone's phones sounded at the same time, a public service announcement? It must be another akuma. Marinette quickly pulled out her phone and checked the notification to confirm her suspicion. She unlocked her phone to find the location; the Louvre, a classic location for an akuma to appear.

"I hope no one from our class is still over there." Nino closed his phone. "We should be fine here, should we continue?"

Marinette would have to think fast. She needed to leave without being suspicious or making her friends worry when she went missing. "I think we should go back to the school in case the akuma comes this way."

Nathaniel started to mumble, "I don't want Mlle. Bustier to worry about us."

Relief washed over Marinette, "I've got to go to the washroom, you guys go ahead and I'll meet you there." Before they could object she ran in the opposite direction they would go and hid in the first alleyway she saw. "Tikki! Spots on!"

Ladybug didn't waste any time. She wasn't ready for this battle. Honestly, she wasn't ready for Chat Noir. She couldn't ignore the akuma though. Paris needed her.

Ladybug managed to meet the akuma in a short two minutes. No sign of Chat Noir yet. Was that lucky? Ladybug shook the thought from her head. No. She needed him, they were a team. She couldn't just sit around waiting for him though, she had to try to defeat this akuma.

She looked around the area for clues, thought she suspected she'd known what happened already. A large stone figure was walking around, a trail of stone statues behind it. At the end of the trail was a familiar face; Chloe Bourgeois. How surprising. She must have caused this akuma. That meant this was either Mylène, or Ivan.

The akuma spotted Ladybug hiding in the shadows and started to run in her direction.

"Alright," She prepared herself and begun spinning her yo-yo. "Time to go back to normal, don't you think?"

The whole group's phones went off at once. Please be an akuma. Adrien was desperate to get out of his current situation. He felt useless with Sabrina trying to do all the work, and he didn't talk to Max enough to keep an actual conversation. He ran out of Ultimate Mecha Strick topics a while ago, so he felt a weird sense of relief when he saw the alert for the akuma. They should probably go back to the school, they were pretty close to the akuma. Maybe he could just blend into the surrounding chaos and just disappear to transform.

"We should go back to the school." Adrien suggested to his teammates. The team nodded in agreement and began the walk back, but before long they were surrounded by people with a similar idea; get as far away from the Louvre as possible.

Between the terrified tourists, Adrien slipped away from his friends and stealthily into a bush in the park. "Plagg! Claws out!" Chat Noir used his staff to lift himself to the rooftops for easier travel.

Should he feel this nervous? It was just a regular battle, but it was what would follow the battle that he was worried about. He wasn't on the best of terms with his lady now, and things were awkward between them. Maybe he should tell her not to worry about it, he just wanted things to go back to how they were. He should have used second chance. Ugh. Although he'd been getting closer to Marinette lately, and maybe that was for the best.

Chat arrived at the Louvre quickly. He cursed himself for already being so close and not giving himself more time to think. The conflictions still battled in his head, though he didn't have time to think it through. Purifying the akuma was much more important.

Before he joined Ladybug in battle, he stayed back to get any information that might help them. So far it just seemed like the akuma's left hand could turn people into stone statues, but it's right hand didn't. Ladybug looked like she was avoiding it entirely, she must not have noticed yet.

Chat swooped down beside Ladybug to join her in battle, readying himself. "Fancy seeing you here, my lady." He cooed at her, but she payed him no mind.

"We'll talk later kitty."

Chat's stomach dropped. He didn't want to think about the conversation they had promised each other right now.

"The akuma is in the bracelet on his left hand."

Chat faked a smile, "Keen eye my lady." He through himself in the air via his staff and made his way toward the akuma.

"Hey there big guy, looks like you've had a hard day. Let me help you out." The distraction again. He ignored his internal monologue. He heard Ladybug call out for her lucky charm in the distance. Chat bounced around, narrowly avoiding the akuma's blows.

"Don't get too cocky Chat, I just need one more minute"

Chat smirked and turned around to face her, turning his back to the akuma. "Don't you worry my lady, I've got this under–" He was cut short by the akuma who's hand grazed his back, but that was all it needed to turn him into a stone statue like everyone else.

Ladybug froze in place and dropped her lucky charm. "Chat!" She yelled for him but got no response. She blinked away the tears that were welling her eyes and picked up her lucky charm. Rage emanating from her eyes she executed her plan with precision. She captured the akuma and set Ivan free before her miraculous chirped for the second time.

Without any hesitation she threw her lucky charm into the air "Miraculous Ladybug!"

A pinkish-red wave washed over the city and everything and everyone returned to normal, including Chat Noir.

"Woah, what happened?"

* * *

This is when things start getting EXCITING! I'll explain why in the next part. What do you think is about to happen and why this is when it gets exciting?


	14. Chapter 14

Chat is in trouble ...or is it Marinette that's in trouble?

* * *

Ladybug threw her arms around Chat. "I'm so glad you're okay." Her voice began to shake as she spoke.

Chat was confused, but quickly accepted the situation and hugged her tightly. Without a word Chat took Ladybug's hand and guided her to a nearby roof, away from public eye where they could talk in private. He wasn't exactly ready for this conversation, but Ladybug seemed like she had something on her mind. She looked pretty upset when he came to, but not in the angry or annoyed way she'd been before.

He didn't want to have this conversation already, but reassured himself this was for the best. They stood on the roof in silence for a moment. Chat tried to free his hand from Ladybug's hold, but she only squeezed harder so not to let him go.

"Are you okay Bugaboo?" Chat was hesitant to ask. She was always there for him, now it was his turn to support _her_.

"You're always so reckless." She suddenly blurted out. "You get hurt, turned into the akuma's minion. You're always trying to protect me, putting yourself in harm's way." She fought the tears that started to form.

Chat reached for her other hand and interlocked their fingers. "I do it for you. It's my job to support you, and in return you always make sure I'm okay in the end."

Ladybug looked at the ground, her bangs obscuring her face from Chat's view. "This is why we can't know each other's identities. Knowing yours already is too much. I can hardly bear to see you fight and get hurt in battle anymore."

Chat squeezed her hands before he let one go to raise her chin. He wanted to tell her everything would be okay, that he was fine, that they could just forget his whole confession happened, but he couldn't. It would be rude of him to ignore their feelings and pretend like nothing's

changed between them.

"Bug…" He was hesitant to continue. "It's alright, you don't have to tell my your identity. I understand that you can't return my feelings, and that's okay. I want to stay friends and partners."

Ladybug was shocked. This was the first time she'd heard him so serious outside battle. How could he say he finally accepted that she wouldn't return his feelings now? She wanted to tell him to stop and that she loved him. That she had since his first day at school when he shared his umbrella, but she knew she wouldn't be able to handle the outcome even if he could.

Chat wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb. "I think this is for the best. You're right."

Ladybug let go of his hands and jumped off the roof, swinging her yo-yo, gliding a distance that seemed like it was far enough away. She ducked into a nearby park and detransformed while no one was around. She sat down on a bench and let out all her emotions at once.

There were so many conflicting emotions running through her head she didn't even know where to start with them.

She desperately wanted to text Adrien, but was there much of a difference between talking to him as Ladybug than as Marinette; The one he saw as the clumsy girl that he might have feelings for?

He said he _liked_ Marinette, but she knew he was in _love_ with Ladybug. Marinette would probably always be number two to him until he found out she and Ladybug were one in the same.

"Marinette?"

She heard a confused voice call out from beside her.

"What's wrong? Are you okay? Why are you crying on a park bench?" Adrien sat down beside her and pulled her in for a hug.

Marinette accepted so not to hurt his feelings, but this _really_ wasn't helping.

He wiped a tear from her face for the second time that night. "Did someone hurt you? Did you get caught up in the akuma fight?" Adrien's voice began to show the panic he was feeling.

He was so nice to her, why did he have to go and complicate things? She leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He knew she wasn't the type of person to give into her emotions like this, especially not in public. Something must have been seriously bothering her.

Marinette kept quiet, she should say something, but how could she explain this without making it obvious that she knew he was Chat Noir?

"Well…" She started to explain, "Someone I knew from a long time ago got back into contact with me, and said some really mean things." _Idiot_. Using the made up boy she told Alya about again?

Adrien stood up and turned to face her. "Who is this guy? I'll show him not to mess with…" He began to squint, thinking about his word choice, "my girl...friend?" he loosened the fist he was holding and furrowed his brow in question.

Marinette let out a giggle and smiled. Maybe this wasn't as bad as she thought.

* * *

This is the point i WAS going to end the fic, originally, this was the reveal. But instead you get nearly 20 more parts lol


	15. Chapter 15

Marinette and Adrien go on a date.

* * *

Marinette stared at her reflection in the mirror. Did she look okay? Maybe she should brush her hair again. Should she change her hairstyle? She spun around in her chair then stood up. She picked up the hem of her skirt and silently debated if she should change it. The light green circle skirt was very pretty, but everything was an important decision right now.

As she paced around the room Tikki came out of hiding. "Marinette relax!" The kwami flew directly in front of Marinette's face to try to catch her attention. "You've been dating him for a month now and you've gone on dates before, you'll be fine!"

Marinette had successfully done the same pre-date routine each time; get dressed, change, try a new hairstyle, revert to her signature pigtails, then mentally question everything.

Marinette fell dramatically onto her chaise lounge, "Tikki this is important!"

Tikki held Marinette's nose. She wanted to put her hands on either side of Marinette's head, but being three inches tall had it's limitations. Tikki furrowed her brow, "You. Will. Be. Fine!" She cried at Marinette, trying to talk some sense into her.

Marinette knew Tikki was right, but she couldn't help it.

"Marinette!"

She heard a cry from downstairs and her heart skipped a beat. Was it time already?

"Adrien's here!" Her mother called up to her again.

Marinette scrambled to double check her hair in the mirror, grabbed her phone and purse, patted the wrinkles from her skirt, took a deep breath, and went downstairs.

"Hi Adrien." She smiled shyly and pushed her bands aside.

As the two left the bakery Tom called after them, "Be careful! Bring her back before 10pm Adrien!"

Adrien spun toward Tom and gave him a thumbs up. "Don't worry," He assured her father, "If I'm not home by 9pm my dad will send a search party." Adrien laughed and turned back around to open the door for Marinette.

Behind the bakery counter Tom wiped a tear from his eye. "My little girl is growing up Sabine! It's too soon!"

Sabine took Tom's hands, "I know dear. It'll be alright."

* * *

Adrien stuck out his elbow, inviting Marinette to slip her hand in opening. The gentleman's invitation his mother had taught him so long ago. The two walked down the street, trying to hide just how eager they both were.

The cool early spring air prompted Adrien to wear his blue scarf. The one that Marinette made for his birthday. She wished he knew she made it for him, but she didn't have the heart, or courage, to tell him it wasn't from his father.

Adrien broke the silence, "So...Are you excited to see How to Train Your Cat: The Secret Hiding Spot?"

Marinette stuttered, "I– uh, yeah, I'm excited to see you!" Her eyes widened when she realized what she'd said. "I mean excited to see it! The movie." She giggled awkwardly.

Adrien smiled, "I'm excited to see you too." He teased. Adrien didn't really know why she always stumbled over her words, but it was cute.

Marinette blushed. Oh no. She felt her face heat up. She looked away from him so he might not notice the blush across her face.

"Sorry, but it's true." He told her with a sly smirk growing on his face. He gave a quick wink which was more than enough for Marinette's soul to melt, and he was well aware of it.

Marinette gently squeezed his arm and hid her face in the folds of his jacket at the shoulder. She didn't want to say anything in case she just embarrassed herself again, but her face said enough so she had to hide that too.

When they arrived at the theatre Adrien insisted that he pay for both their tickets. He didn't want Marinette to have to pay for herself with the money she earned from working at the bakery when he had more than enough for both of them.

Marinette crossed her arms, "I just feel guilty. Why couldn't you let me pay for myself?"

"I can't let you do that." Adrien grinned, "Besides, you're cute when you're frustrated."

Marinette's face turned a shade of red. She couldn't find the words to respond. "I– I have to go to the bathroom before the movie starts." She marched into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror while she washed her hands. Her face was still flushed red and her heart was beating so fast. She could hardly keep herself together around him.

She left the bathroom to meet Adrien who was waiting for her with a big red and white bag of popcorn, a pair of chocolate bars, and an over-sized drink.

"Adrien Agreste you need to stop." Marinette pointed a finger at the concessions. She'd only been gone for a few minutes and he already spent more on her. If this continued she was going to be as spoiled as Chloe soon.

He smirked and held a finger to his lips. "Shhh! You don't want anyone finding out us do you? You know what happened last time when I was swarmed by fans."

Marinette huffed and took his hand after relieving him from carrying all their snacks. She lead him to the theatre, then to a pair of seats where they sat. She loved having a doting boyfriend, but she felt guilty when he would spend money on her. She would much rather he dote on her by spending time with her at home and playing Mecha Strike.

The room darkened and the movie started to play. Under the secrecy of the dark, Adrien put his arm around Marinette. Marinette, on the other hand, was glad it was dark. Not so that people wouldn't see them, but so Adrien wouldn't see that he'd made her face turn beet-red for the third time today.

* * *

Welcome to fluff. The fun stuff before the Plan(tm) goes into action.


	16. Chapter 16

Nino knows their secret

* * *

Marinette sat on the bench beside Alya. They had been chatting about something during their break, but Alya was currently talking to Max about a problem with the Ladyblog website.

In that short period of time, Marinette had gotten lost in her own mind as she stared off into space. She hadn't realized it yet, but she'd spent the last few minutes staring at Adrien who was sitting across the room with Nino.

"Dude, why is she staring at you?" Nino asked.

Adrien shrugged. He'd noticed a while ago, but wanted to see how long it would take before she would notice he'd been looking back at her.

"She's probably gotten lost in thought again."

Nino's suspicion grew. They didn't talk about girls often, but that was mostly due to Adrien's lack of interest. However Adrien's interest seemed to have changed as of late.

"What's up between you two anyway?"

Adrien broke his line of sight with Marinette and looked suddenly at Nino. "What?"

Panic suddenly found its way into Adrien. Marinette had asked him to keep things quiet for now, just have everything stay between them. He wasn't sure why, maybe she was trying to find the right time to tell everyone? He didn't really care, after all the modeling he'd done, he understood why she might not want to tell everyone yet. He had a lot of fans who might not be as excited about it all as he was.

"N-No!" Adrien began to stutter, "We're just really good friends."

Adrien wanted to hit himself. He'd been telling Marinette that they were 'just good friends' for months before they starting dating. What a joke. He told himself.

"Oh cut it." Nino rejected Adrien's poor excuse. "You should know by now."

Adrien attempted to look anywhere but at Nino, but he knew what was coming.

"You know she likes you. Has she finally told you yet?"

Adrien looked back at Marinette who was still off in her own world. Curse his feelings. He wasn't a good enough liar to fool Nino and he knew it, but he had to try anyway.

"What?!" He exclaimed dramatically. "Marinette likes me?" Was this too over the top? Probably, but he couldn't completely blow his cover.

Nino crossed his arms, that was the most fake response he'd ever heard.

Adrien sighed. "Please don't tell Mari I told you." His eyes widened and he pointed a thumb over his shoulder toward the two girls. "Or Alya. Oh my god Mari would kill me if Alya found out because of me."

A smile snuck across Nino's face and he uncrossed his arms to give Adrien a thumbs up. "Finally! She's been crushing hard on you since day one!"

Adrien put a hand on the back of his neck, "Yeah… I guess I'm just blind." It wasn't totally true. He knew Marinette liked him, to a degree. He was still committed to ladybug though so he didn't want to entertain Marinette's feelings if he couldn't devote himself to her.

Nino laughed, "You really are if that's the case. Everyone knew she liked you." He paused, "Wait, when did you start calling her Mari?" Nino elbowed his friend, teasing him.

A light blush covered Adrien's cheeks. "Uh…" He thought back to about a month ago when they'd been texting during lunch class about lunch plans. "Do you remember that day in class when I took Marinette out of class during lunch and Alya freaked out?"

Nino tried to picture the scene, "I think so?"

"I'm not exactly sure when, or why, but that was the day I started calling her Mari. Though I only do it when it's just the two of us."

Nino's jaw dropped. "Wait. you mean you've been on dates—"

Adrien covered Nino's mouth with a hand and looked around to make sure no one heard him.

"Shh! Everyone will hear you!"

Adrien took his hand away from Nino.

"So you have?" Nino asked in a hushed voice.

Adrien look at him, eyes squinted and brow furrowed. "What do you mean? Of course we have!"

There was no way Adrien would be able to not take her on dates and spend time together whenever they could. Especially when they didn't get to spend time together at school.

Adrien looked back at Marinette again and a soft expression on his face. If only this had happened sooner.

Marinette's daze was broken by Alya trying to get her attention. When Marinette realized she'd been staring at Adrien the whole time, and he her, she blushed before turning to Alya.

Adrien sighed audibly.

"Dude, you've got it bad."

* * *

sorry for the late upload, I forgot what day of the week it is lol


	17. Chapter 17

Alya won't catch on too...right?

* * *

"...nette, hello? Earth to Marinette!"

Marinette pulled herself from the depths of her own thoughts to find she'd been staring at Adrien for god knows how long. It had obviously been a while because he was staring right back at her.

Marinette turned toward Alya who'd been trying to get her attention. "What's up Alya?" She asked, trying to play off the fact she hadn't been listening to her for some time.

Alya sighed and put her hands on her hips. "Alright girl. We've gotta talk. What is it with you and Adrien?" She paused so could stand and emphasize her words with gestures. "You two have been acting weird for a while now." Alya squinted at Marinette while she awaited Marinette's excuse.

Marinette looked down. "Alright, I'll tell you…"

Of course Marinette wasn't actually going to tell Alya what was between them. She'd had a plan from the beginning and it was about to expire, so the timing couldn't have been better.

"Adrien and I — and the rest of the class of course — have been planning a surprise party for your birthday."

Alya's suspicions all dissipated. This wasn't at all what she'd expected.

"I… Uh..." Alya, the star reporter, was at a loss for words for the first time since Marinette had met her. "There's got to be something else! Who have you been texting in class then?"

Marinette bit her lip, she had to find a way out of this one. "Okay, so I was texting Adrien…" She trailed off, nervously tapping her fingers together. "We were just trying to organize decorations!" Marinette explained, following it up with her signature Dupain-Cheng awkward laugh.

Of course her laugh gave her away, but luckily Alya decided to let it slide this time. Alya would just have to wait until after the party, when Marinette and Adrien were still texting during class and Marinette's excuse was no longer valid.

Before Alya could return to her spot beside Marinette on the bench Adrien and Nino appeared beside her.

"Hello boys." She greeted them.

Nino threw an arm around Alya. "Hey babe. What are you two talking about?"

Alya crossed her arms, "Oh, just that you've all been planning a surprise party for my birthday." She let out a sly smile.

Nino's expression was one filled with shock. "Marinette! How could you? We were so close!"

Nino reluctantly accepted defeat. He knew it wouldn't be easy to keep secrets from Alya. He'd prepared himself for if she found out early, but with only two days to go he thought they might actually be home free.

Adrien, on the other hand, wasn't really as surprised as Nino. He suspected Marinette used this as a distraction from talking about her relationship with him.

"Actually, speaking of that…" Adrien started, "Mari...nette," He corrected himself before Alya noticed, "I need to talk to you." He reached out to take her hand and led her away before she could object.

Marinette wasn't sure what to think. Was his enough to give them away? This hadn't happened before, right? Adrien leading Marinette by hand through the school. Sure they'd held hands and led each other around before while on dates, but not at school.

They stopped at the top of the stairs, just outside their classroom.

"What are you doing?" Marinette asked, confused as to why he suddenly whisked her away.

"Mari I think we should tell them the truth."

Marinette took a step back and looked up at him confused. "What? No! Why should we do that?"

"Why shouldn't we?" Adrien was quick to respond. "It's been a month and I think everyone's starting to catch on to us. Wouldn't it be better if we told them?"

Marinette squeezed his hand and bit her lip. He was right, but she enjoyed the weird game of hide and seek they'd been playing with their classmates. Avoiding their friends and sneaking around to spend time together.

Why didn't she want to tell everyone again anyway? She knew it had something to do with him being Chat Noir, but she just couldn't place it.

"Can we talk about this later? Maybe you could come over after school and we could watch more Sarah Universe too." Marinette asked with a sly grin. "They dropped another bomb of five episodes." She nudged him in the stomach with her elbow.

"I wish. You know I have Chinese lessons today."

Their conversation was interrupted by the bell signaling the end of the break.

"I'll text you." Adrien told her as he looked around to make sure no one was nearby before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

* * *

Went on a friend date to the movies yesterday and was very tempted to pull an Adrien from last part while she was in the bathroom lol


	18. Chapter 18

Marinette collapsed onto her chaise lounge. The school day was finally over and now she could relax, or at least that's what she wanted to do. She look her phone from her purse, she'd felt it vibrate when she was going up the stairs to her room.

Adrien - 4:03PM " ;) "

Marinette laughed, why did he just send an emoji?

Marinette - 4:07PM "Think you can sneak out to come over after your lesson?"

She tried to avoid thinking about the topic they were supposed to talk about and focused on the text he'd sent her earlier: a single winking emoji. He was such a dork, but she actually liked it.

It was getting harder for her to ignore his puns when they were Ladybug and Chat Noir. really didn't like Chat's sense of humor before, but now that she'd seen Adrien act the same way, it wasn't so bad. It was clear now that this was just who he was when he felt free to be himself. She had long sense accepted that they were in fact, the same person spite what seemed like extreme differences before. She kind of felt bad for being so harsh on him before, now that she understood.

Marinette's phone vibrated in her hand.

Adrien - 4:23PM "I think I can make that happen. Is 7 okay? I want to leave some time so we can watch Sarah Universe after I talk to _my_ universe ;p "

Marinette put a hand over her mouth to cover her blushing smile. _Oh my god._

Marinette - 4:24PMOkay, I'll be waiting. I'll let maman know 3 "

Marinette sat upright and put her phone face down on the chaise lounge.

"Tikki?" She called out to her kwami.

Tikki popped out from seemingly nowhere. "What's up Marinette?"

Marinette moved over to her computer. "I'm sorry Tikki, but Adrien's coming over later around 7." Marinette started to clean her desk free of all her sewing scraps and loose threads.

"That's alright, I've been enjoying the book you gave me, so I'll just read that!"

Tikki got used to hiding when Adrien came over. In her opinion, it was better than having to stay in Marinette's purse if she went to Adrien's house.

"Thanks Tikki." Marinette smiled and gave the kwami a hug.

She continued to tidy her desk, but stopped suddenly. "Tikki," She called to get her attention again. "What should I do if Adrien doesn't want to keep our relationship a secret anymore?"

Tikki floated over and sat on the desk in front of her. "Why don't you want anyone else to know?"

Marinette sighed, she wasn't entirely sure anymore. "I think it had something to do with him being Chat Noir?"

Tikki tilted her head, "You're not sure?"

Marinette set her elbows on the desk and covered her face with her hands. "I don't know anymore Tikki. I don't want to hide it, but what if it affects me as Ladybug?"

Tikki floated up and held one of Marinette's fingers, pulling it away from her face. "You haven't had any problems since you started dating him, have you?"

Marinette looked up from her hands and shook her head.

"You told me that Chat Noir hasn't flirted with Ladybug since you started dating Adrien. Besides, he doesn't know you're Ladybug. What could possibly go wrong?"

Marinette took a deep breath, "You're right Tikki, thanks." She gave the kwami a hug and returned to tidying her desk again.

Lost in her task, and a playlist she'd made with Adrien, time flew by.

"Marinette, dinner's ready!"

She heard her mother call up to her.

Marinette sat at the table with her parents and began to eat. "Maman, is it okay if Adrien comes over after dinner? Around 7 PM?" She probably should have asked sooner, but her parents seemed to like him. The fact that it was a Friday night helped too.

"Sure sweetie, I can't see why not." Sabine answered.

They continued their dinner as normal, and Marinette returned to her room afterwards. It was already 6:45 PM, Adrien should be there shortly.

"...You're right Tikki, I know, we should just tell everyone. I'm sorry, I'll stop asking, you're right. I'm just—" Marinette paced back and forth in her room, second guessing her earlier decision.

Suddenly she heard a knock at her door and the squeak of the trap door's hinge.

"Tikki! Hide!" She yelled in a whispered voice.

The trap door opened to reveal a head of blonde hair and a smiling face.

"Hi Mari."

Marinette turned around, trying to block view of Tikki in case she wasn't hidden yet.

"Hi Adrien. Did your Dad let you come over or did you sneak out again?"

Adrien came through the trap door and gave her a hug. "I am currently watching TV in my room." He said with a wink.


	19. Chapter 19

Adrien spent the entire day following his talk with Nino thinking about what had happened between himself and Ladybug. He continued to think about how his relationship with Marinette had blossomed and what that might mean.

Adrien had been in love with Ladybug since they first met. She was brave, confident, smart, and independent. Ladybug was the opposite of most of the girls he had met. It was refreshing when she didn't just agree with him or try to constantly impress him, even though when they met he was Chat Noir. He even felt a weird sense of accomplishment whenever she laughed at his puns or hinted that she even remotely accepted his passes.

Though he'd been trying to win her affection for so long, it was becoming difficult to continue when she would so eloquently shoot him down nearly every time he tried to flirt with her. When he'd confessed to her as Aspik he hadn't expected to follow through with that timeline, he just wanted to see how it felt to finally tell her the truth.

Now everything was complicated and it didn't feel good to finally tell the truth like he thought. Since he told her he was Aspik, Adrien, and Chat Noir, she still shut him down a few times. Now that she knew how serious he was, it felt worse. At least knowing that he was Adrien didn't change her opinion of him and she didn't turn into some sort of weird groupie like Chloe. Adrien shuttered at the thought, he liked Ladybug, but that was too weird.

Adrien took this as his chance to finally move on. It just so happened that the next day was when Marinette asked him to a movie. It was convenient timing on her part. Adrien had an inkling that Marinette liked him, but he didn't consider that such an amazing girl would be interested in him. Before this, none of that mattered anyway because he was in love with Ladybug. He couldn't entertain the feelings of another person and toy with their emotions. That was something Hawk Moth would do, Adrien would never stoop to his level.

Since Ladybug was clearly uninterested in him, he reluctantly made the decision to give up on her. Really, it would benefit both of them. She didn't have to put up with his advances, and he wouldn't have to bear through her constant rejections. Adrien was going to be happy with Marinette, she was caring, smart, happy, she was… perfect.

* * *

Adrien could hardly sit through his Chinese lesson, let alone dinner afterwards. He was constantly thinking about Marinette today. He was going to her house later and they were going to talk about them for the first time in a while. He was excited, he just wanted to be able to tell everyone.

Adrien considered asking his father for permission to go to her house, but this was too important. He never told him about Marinette, so this would be no different to him than all the other times he'd asked to spend time with friends and had been coldly told no. If his father said no and put him under Nathalie's surveillance he wouldn't be able to escape. It was much more reliable to just wait until he was alone in his room, then sneak off as Chat Noir.

After what felt like an eternity, it was finally time.

"Ya know, I kind of like the new you, kid. Minus the lovey-dovey nonsense." Plagg floated circles around Adrien as he got ready to leave. "More confidence, sneaking out, doing whatever we want… This is great!" Plagg stopped to admire the small wheel of camembert Adrien had bribed him with to not complain about his relationships. "Plus you've been giving me more delicious cheese."

Adrien checked himself in the mirror and brushed his bangs to the side. "Things have changed a bit. I can't rely on my father to let me see Mari all the time, so I need Chat. I feel like I can be more myself around her now anyway." Adrien opened the window, then turned toward Plagg. "A little Chat Noir might come out when I'm around her, but so what? It's not like she'd know what Chat Noir is like."

Adrien crossed his arms when he saw Plagg nearly caressing his cheese and whispering to it. "Come on Plagg, let's go." Adrien opened the window and put his foot on the sill, and held onto the side with a hand. "Plagg, claws out!"

"No, wait! I wasn't d—" Plagg cried as he was pulled into the black cat miraculous.

Chat ran across the rooftops and toward the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Lucky for him, Marinette didn't live too far away. He dropped down a block away to detransform unnoticed.

Adrien checked his phone, it was already 7:24PM. Marinette was probably wondering where he was. Adrien opened the door to the bakery where Tom popped out from under the counter with a freshly baked tray of Macarons in his hands.

"Oh, hi Adrien. Marinette is in her room."

Adrien smiled as he walked by, "Thanks Tom!" He proceeded up the stairs to find Sabine in the living room watching TV.

"Adrien! I was wondering what time you'd get here. Marinette's in her room, do you want me to get her for you?"

Adrien shook his head, "That's okay, I'll surprise her."

At the top of the stairs he lifted the trap door that led to Marinette's room. He could hear her talking to herself of the other side. He opened the door and poked his head through, "Hi Mari!" He greeted her with a smile.

* * *

Hopefully this part clears some stuff up about what's going on inside Adrien's head since we usually only see Mari's point of view. We're getting close to the part where I had to go on a Miraculous deep-dive to figure out some special stuff ;)


	20. Chapter 20

Will Marinette tell Adrien she's LB?

* * *

Marinette and Adrien sat side by side on the chaise lounge, knowing the conversation they were about to have wouldn't exactly be fun.

Marinette took a deep breath, she just wanted to get this over with.

"Mari, is there any reason why you don't want to tell everyone we're dating?" Adrien spoke up before she had the chance.

Marinette hesitated. Should she tell him that it was because she knew he was Chat Noir? She shook the thought from her head. No, that was ridiculous, that would make it more obvious that she was Ladybug. There was no way should could let that happen now, their relationship would be ruined.

"Mari?" He asked, his voiced coated with concern.

"Sorry," She started. She just had to tell him the truth. She couldn't keep the poor boy in the dark forever, just look at him! He was so concerned. His beautiful blonde hair falling over his brows scrunched in worry. She caressed his face with her hand and smiled. "At first there was a reason. A good one… I think. I don't even remember anymore."

Adrien's expression of worry changed into one of confusion.

"I was thinking about why I wanted this to be a secret since you asked me at school and I couldn't remember. I thought that if I can't remember why anymore, then there should be a reason we can't tell everyone. It obviously wasn't that important if I forgot."

Adrien laughed and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Oh Mari, you're so silly." He loosened his grip and backed away to look at her.

"Wh— what are you doughnut?" Marinette fumbled her words, "Doing." She corrected herself.

Adrien leaned forward and gently kissed her forehead. Marinette's face quickly burned red in embarrassment, but she didn't fight the feeling, instead she smiled and leaned her head forward to rest on his shoulder.

"Are you ready to watch Sarah Universe?" Adrien asked and gestured toward her computer.

Marinette nodded and stood up. "Do you remember what episode we're on?" She asked as she sat at her desk.

Adrien hummed, "I think in the last episode Sarah and Connor were trying to learn to fight while their souls were merged, but they were having trouble?"

Marinette scrolled through the list of episodes. "Okay, that was probably "Thoughtful Lesson", so the next one is "Future Man Lance"."

Adrien shrugged. "Sure."

Marinette started the episode then immediately paused it to make sure everything was ready. She rolled the computer chair away and looked toward Adrien. "Can you move the chaise lounge to the usual place please?" Marinette asked with a bright smile.

"Can do my lady."

Marinette felt her heart skip a beat. She hadn't heard that in a while. Chat didn't say it anymore, but Adrien didn't say that to her either. If she was honest, she kind of missed it. She couldn't tell Chat now, but she was starting to realized she actually really liked their banter, his lame puns, and his endless attempts to flirt with her.

"Ready?" Adrien asked as he made himself comfortable on the chaise lounge.

"Yeah, just a second." Marinette hit full screen, then play and sat beside Adrien, leaning against him.

Part way into the episode both their phones buzzed. No...not now, please. Marinette thought to herself. They both sat up to check the notification.

"Maybe it's just our friends group chat?" Adrien suggested, hopeful it wasn't an akuma and he wouldn't have to "go home", "just in case".

Marinette turned her phone on to see the notification;

Akuma Alert - 8:06PM: "There's an akuma at the Gardens of Champs-Élysées. Please stay inside and avoid the area until the issue has been resolved."

Marinette sighed and turned the screen to Adrien. She stood to pause the episode they were watching, then turned to face him again. "I guess this means you have to leave?" She asked, sad he had to go, but glad she had an excuse so not to disappear for 20 minutes while she fought the akuma.

Marinette knew that his excuse was because he was Chat Noir and had to fight alongside Ladybug. It wasn't a terrible excuse on his part, and it really helped her.

"Yeah…" Adrien sighed and stood up to leave. Before he made it to the stairs he pointed to Marinette's phone on the chaise lounge. "I'll text you later, don't miss me too much!" He told her with a wink and disappeared downstairs.

Marinette waited until she heard him talk to her mom, then get quiet again to make sure he left. She wanted to make sure he couldn't hear her when she transformed, let alone come back and catch her mid-transformation.

"Tikki?" She called out from the middle of her room.

The small red kwami appeared from Marinette's loft, "It's too bad your little date got cut short."

Marinette nodded and raised a fist. "Which is why we've got to teach this akuma a lesson! Let's go Tikki, spots on!"

Ladybug emerged from the trapdoor onto the rooftop balcony. "Alright, shall we see who ruined my night?"

She swung across the city until she reached the Gardens of Champs-Élysées to find a swarm of birds and a man… standing on top of them? Ugh. It was Mr. Pigeon again.

Chat landed beside her and let out a sneeze.

"Bless you."

"Thanks." Chat answered as he rubbed a finger under his nose. "Mr. Pigeon again?"

Ladybug sighed audibly, "Looks like it."

Chat groaned, it was clear he was just as upset as her. "What a way to ruin my night. Let's cage this foul bird, shall we, Ladybug?"

She smiled. Yup, she missed his puns. "It would be my pleasure." She responded as she swung her yo-yo.

* * *

The battle was short lived, as expected for a villain they'd faced countless times before.

"Bye bye little butterfly."

"Psst, LB," Chat whispered to her, trying not to act unnatural. "Mayura 2 o'clock, rooftop."

Ladybug looked up to, in fact, see Mayura watching over them. What is she doing here?

* * *

SORRY FOR BEING LATE, I FORGOT. I'll make it up to you guys 3


	21. Chapter 21

A plan starts to form...

* * *

Ladybug dashed across rooftops and over the Paris skyline. It was no use trying to be sneaky about it now, Mayura immediately noticed that Ladybug was trying to catch her. Ladybug was slowly catching up to her, but she was running out of time. Ladybug's miraculous chirped for the fourth time, only sixty seconds until she would detransform.

Was she that close to catching Mayura? Thousands of thoughts ran through her head; would she be able to beat Mayura alone, without her lucky charm? Would there be enough time before her miraculous broke her transformation? Was this all worth her possibly detransforming on a random Parisian rooftop, likely in front of Mayura, whoever she was?

Ladybug clicked her tongue and took a sharp turn down between buildings to hide. As soon as she hit the ground her miraculous chirped for the final time and broke her transformation.

"Marinette! what was that?" Tikki asked with no regard to how tired she was, having been transformed the full five minutes after Ladybug used her lucky charm.

"I— I don't know. I want to catch her to stop Hawk Moth…" Marinette stopped to take a deep breath. Their chase had left her exhausted. "Suddenly I just got this overwhelming feeling to stop her. It's like my heart knew she was one of the things keeping me from telling Adrien my identity; that I'm Ladybug."

Marinette reached into her purse to pull out a small pink macaron to give to Tikki. Marinette looked at Tikki apologetically, she was completely drained of energy and clearly struggling to keep floating around. She held Tikki in her hands to give her a break and eat the macaron to regain her energy.

Marinette knew they had a long mission ahead of them. She knew that her heart was right, and she had to listen to it. They'd been fighting Hawk Moth for nearly a year with little to no progress to find out who he was or how to stop him.

She wanted to be able to tell Adrien that she was Ladybug, but she couldn't do that until the threat of Hawk Moth was gone. This meant that she was going to have to do a lot of digging, and she felt like this was something she had to do herself.

"Are you ready to go Tikki?"

The kwami took the last bite of the macaron then nodded.

"We're pretty far from home," Marinette continued, "So I need Ladybug's help, sorry. I'll give you more treats once we get home."

Marinette waited until Tikki was completely finished eating, then looked around to make sure no one was nearby to see her transform. "Tikki! Spots on!"

Ladybug swung her yo-yo and propelled herself onto the rooftop and across the city. She landed on her rooftop balcony and quickly slid through the trapdoor and into her bedroom where she could safely detransform.

"Okay Tikki, spots off."

Without another word, Marinette sat down at her desk and pulled a piece of blank paper from her school bad and a pen from the cup on her desk.

Tikki floated over too see what she was doing. "Are you planning something?" She asked as Marinette turned on her computer.

"Oh sorry Tikki, I already forgot your cookie." Marinette opened her desk drawer and pulled a container out. Inside was a variety of cookies and snacks Marinette had stashed away specifically for Tikki.

Tikki made her selection, then sat down on the desk to eat it next to where Marinette was working.

Marinette opened to the Ladyblog. "After I was chasing Mayura I decided that I would work harder toward figuring out who Hawk Moth is and capture both him and Mayura." She scrolled to the section of the Ladyblog that was for Hawk Moth and wrote down all the relevant points as well as any additional details and did the same for Mayura.

Marinette tapped her pen on the paper. "Tikki, do you think I should visit Master Fu to see if he has anything else that might help?"

Tikki nodded. "Master knows lots about the miraculous, there must be something else. You should talk to Chat Noir too!"

"No." Marinette cut her off. "I want to do this without Chat. It's already hard knowing the person I love is putting himself in danger, I want to do this myself. I need to keep him safe."

* * *

I'll put another part out tomorrow as usual.

How do you guys think Mari will try to end things with Hawk Moth?


	22. Chapter 22

Adrien 3 10:17PM - "It's too bad that akuma ruined our night. I have some free time Sunday after my photo shoot, wanna try again?"

Marinette typed out yes, but erased it before she sent anything. If she was going to try to defeat Hawk Moth once and for all, she was going to have to do some reconnaissance missions and a lot of research.

Tomorrow she had to help out at the bakery, so Sunday would be the first opportunity to try to find out more as Ladybug.

Marinette 10:19PM - "Sorry Adrien, I'm busy Sunday and I have to work at the bakery tomorrow."

"It's for the best." She told herself. This way they wouldn't have to keep any secrets from one another, and Paris might finally be at ease.

Adrien 3 10:21PM - "Oh, well that's okay. I'll see you on Monday. Anyway, what did you do after I left? You didn't keep watching Sarah Universe without me did you?!"

Marinette laughed at his suggestion, then considered what she may have done had she not been fighting the akuma with him. She looked around the room for inspiration, it's not like she would have been able to leave anyway.

Marinette 10:21PM - "I just fleshed out some of my recent designs, but I'm not sure I like any of them."

Marinette put the pen she was using back into the cup on her desk and folded up the paper she was writing on. It didn't seem like she'd be able to focus now that Adrien had started texting her. She walked over to her vanity and opened the drawer where she kept the box her miraculous came in and slipped the paper inside.

"Giving up already?" Tikki asked, worry in her voice.

"What? No, I just can't focus on gathering information and texting Adrien at the same time."

Tikki laughed, and continued to snack on her treat.

Marinette changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed. Once she got comfortable she opened her phone and continued to text Adrien. It wasn't often that an akuma attacked right before she would go to bed rather than after. She just wanted to stay comfy and text Adrien until one of them fell asleep.

Marinette woke up Sunday morning wishing she could just sleep the whole day away. Yesterday an akuma attack woke her up at 6 AM. Apparently things weren't going as planned for a vendor at a local market, someone tried to convince him his products weren't worth the price in an attempt to bargain, but it just upset him.

After the akuma problem was solved, she spent the day baking with her dad and running around to get various supplies. Between that and all her homework, she didn't get to bed until nearly 11:30 PM. Needless to say, she was exhausted today.

Marinette took the sheet of paper she'd written about Hawk Moth on the day before, and looked it over. She scoffed, none of this would really help her, being such limited information that was already common knowledge to her. She returned the paper to the box in her drawer and stood just below the trap door to the rooftop balcony.

"Tikki, are you ready?" She turned around to find Tikki floating right behind her.

"I'm ready." Tikki answered.

"Spots on."

Ladybug emerged through the trap door and onto the balcony. Master Fu didn't live far, but she didn't want to waste time now that she had a goal in sight. Ladybug soared through the skies, stopping in a park thick with trees where she could easily detransform.

"Spots off."

Tikki appeared in front of her and zipped into Marinette's purse.

Marinette made a beeline for Master Fu's apartment. She entered to find him in silent meditation.

"Sorry Master." She whispered so not to alarm him. "I had a few questions about the miraculous and I was hoping you could help."

Master Fu opened his eyes, he was delighted to see her, but her topic made him nervous. She always had difficult questions that he couldn't always answer. "Of course Marinette. What do you need help with?"

Marinette sat down in front of him. She was anxious to tell him, but her feelings of determination superseded them, and Master Fu could tell. "I want any information you might know about Hawk Mot, Mayura and they're miraculous."

Master Fu smiled, he knew exactly what she was planning even before she said it. "You want to defeat them? It will take a lot of work and a smart plan to do that."

Marinette fell silent. Did he not think she was up for it? She didn't care. She came here for his help, not his blessing. "Yes. I want the citizens of Paris to finally feel peace again. I want to end Hawk Moth's reign of terror."

Master Fu seemed pleased, she knew he had faith in her. Of all the people in Paris he picked her to be Ladybug after all.

"Unfortunately I don't have much in the way of information for you." He explained, "I've already told you all I know about them. The butterfly and peacock miraculouses went missing so long ago."

Marinette bit her lip, she was hoping for at least something new.

Master Fu raised a finger to get her attention. "Nonetheless, I can grant you the powers of another miraculous. However you must be careful."

Marinette's face lit up as Master Fu stood to open the miracle box.

"Choose a miraculous to help you, Ladybug."

Marinette hovered over the box, debating which to take before she spotted the perfect choice: The rabbit miraculous.

Master Fu gasped and tried to stop her, "Wait! Playing with time travel can be very dangerous! You must be very careful!"

Marinette put the miraculous box into her purse and turned for the door. "Don't worry, I'll be careful." She opened the door to leave, but paused first. "Thanks again Master!"

"Wait! Let me at least tell you about the consequences of this miracu—" He was cut off by the door closing after Marinette left.

* * *

Can you tell where this is headed?


	23. Chapter 23

Marinette sat at her desk and started at the miraculous box that sat in front of her. "This is what will tell me who Hawk Moth is. This is going to fix everything."

Tikki emerged from behind her. Compared to the regular bubbly attitude Tikki usually had, she was acting very meek and concerned. "Marinette... I don't know if that's the right idea. This is dangerous."

Marinette didn't care, who else could she endanger but herself? "It'll be fine Tikki. I'll just pop in to see the future and who Hawk Moth is. It won't change the present."

Tikki became slightly more at ease, but remained a bit cautious of the idea. Time travel was dangerous, especially so when you went to the past, considering how drastically it could change the present. One wrong move and someone doesn't exist anymore. In this case, Marinette might end up knowing too much and that knowledge will end up changing how she acts and end up changing her own future from what was destined. Tikki knew enough about time travel to know this was dangerous. "How are you going to find him in the future though?"

Marinette hummed, if her plan succeeded, then future Marinette would know, surely she would tell herself. "If this plan works, then future me should already know who Hawk Moth is, right? I'll just ask future me."

Tikki grimaced, she still wasn't comfortable with the whole time travel idea, but what could she do about it? Marinette was already so sure about it, and she was determined to succeed in her goal.

Marinette opened the miraculous box that sat in front of her to reveal a silver pocket watch. She picked it up and tapped a finger on her desk. "I supposed I should have let Master Fu explain some things…" She trailed off.

Suddenly a bright light emanated from the watch and a small white rabbit appeared in front of her.

"What's tickin'? I'm Fluff."

To her amazement, she didn't need to do anything else to activate the miraculous and release the kwami. Marinette giggled, "It's nice to meet you Fluff, I'm Marinette, and this is Tikki." Marinette guestered toward Tikki.

"Marinette you can't use two miraculous at once! It's dangerous and you could get hurt!" Tikki's concerned cries echoed through the room.

Fluff darted toward Tikki with pure amazement. "Tikki!" She flew back over to Marinette. "Wow! You're the new Ladybug? You must really be something special."

Marinette smiled at Fluff's compliment. "Thanks Fluff, but I need your help." Her tone changed, becoming serious "I need to go to the future and find out who Hawk Moth is so I can stop him."

Fluff gave a salute, "Aye aye! Whenever you want to transform just say "clockwise" then you'll have the power of time travel!"

Marinette didn't feel as though she was so close to finding Hawk Moth's identity as she was. All she had to do was say "clockwise", find her future self, and defeat the scumbag once and for all.

"You can create a portal to the burrow by pressing the button on the top of your watch." Fluff continued.

"The burrow?" Marinette asked.

"It's sort of like a place outside of time. You can look through different timelines and choose where and when you want to go." Fluff explained, "Sorry I can't explain better, it's a little complicated."

Marinette shook her head. "It's okay, I'll figure it out."

She checked the time on her phone, it was only 2 PM on a Sunday. Now was probably the best time, if any. Besides, It's not like time travel would take long if she did it right, plus if it made her tired she had plenty of time to recoup her energy before her parents noticed. She took a deep breath and reached for her earrings.

"Marinette wait! " Tikki cried before Marinette took out the earrings. "Are you sure you can do this? It'll be dangerous!"

Marinette gave Tikki a thumbs up. "I'll be fine Tikki, I'll be with the future me anyway. No one better than Ladybug to protect me, right?" Marinette took out the earrings and Tikki disappeared back into the miraculous and she safely put them back into the miraculous box. She felt bad, like she was betraying Tikki, but if all went as planned she would only be gone for a few minutes, then everything would be back to normal.

"Okay Fluff, let's run through this again." Marinette started as she held the rabbit miraculous in her hand. "I push this button…" She trailed off as she put her thumb on the button atop the watch. "And it takes me to the burrow?"

Fluff nodded, "You got it!"

"Then while I'm in the burrow I need to find the right timeline, and time, then I can just walk through the portal?"

Fluff nodded again. "You can move your hand over the different portals to scroll through time, so to speak."

"Alright, I think I've got it." Marinette took a deep breath. "Fluff, clockwise"

* * *

I hate time travel. It's so weird and complicated.


	24. Chapter 24

Once Marinette transformed, she gained the time travel powers of the rabbit miraculous. She examined her new outfit, a blue and white suit similar to what she had for Ladybug, but it also had a fluffy white cotton ball tail and two floppy white ears to show off the rabbit aspect of the kwami.

"Wow, this is a lot different from Ladybug's suit! There's so much more detail and these bunny ears are really cute!" She giggled as she rubbed the fluffy white ears that appeared atop her head. "I don't know what I should call myself though...not that it really matters…" She trailed off. "How does Lapinette sound Tikki?" Marinette paused to wait for Tikki's response before remembering she'd taken out her earrings already. "Oh...right."

She took the watch from her suit's pocked and pushed the button on the top to open the portal to the burrow. She took a deep breath and stepped through the portal.

Once through, Lapinette was overwhelmed with options. There were at least a hundred different portals to various timelines showing different events. She walked forward to the portal directly in front of he and swiped her hand over it to the left. Suddenly she was startled by a pain developing in her forehead. Lapinette winced in pain, then continued scrolling through time. She came upon herself in her civilian form, but she didn't look much older than she was now, if at all.

Lapinette went through many timelines until she came across one that looked accurate to what she'd experienced so far. She looked forward in time, many years in the future until she found her civilian self again. This time future Marinette was an obviously much older iteration of herself. She swiped her hand to search for a time when she was alone. Lapinette didn't recognize where future her was, but she was alone in the room and now was her chance.

Lapinette took a step forward toward the portal, but was briefly stopped by the growing pain in her head. She tried to massage her temples, knowing it wasn't going to help, but trying anyway.

Once through the portal a startled future Marinette greeted her. "Oh! Marinette, hello. Was this today? It's been so long I'd forgotten." She explained with a gentle smile.

Lapinette brought a finger to her lips. "Shhh, my name isn't Marinette, it's Lapinette." She corrected her future self with a wink.

"Mari? Are you okay in there?"

They could hear someone from the other side of the door. The voice sounded familiar to Lapinette, it was someone she knew well, but she just couldn't place the voice.

"Just a second!" Future Marinette called to the voice beyond the door. "Hang on Ma- Lapinette, I'll be right back." She told her then vanished on the other side for the door.

Lapinette could hear the two muffled voices on the other side of the door, but she couldn't quite make out what they were saying.

Suddenly she was hit with another throbbing pain in her head. Her migraine was getting worse, she'd have to wrap this up quickly so she could deal with this at home.

"Sorry about that!" Future Marinette said as she came back through the door. "Anyway, I suppose you're here to ask about Hawk Moth?"

Lapinette nodded, "I was hoping you could tell me who he is and how I can defeat him."

Future Marinette sighed audibly, a look of concern spread across her face. "I'm not going to tell you who he is, I'll leave that for you to figure out, but I can tell you where and when you'll find him."

Lapinette grinned, "Perfect."

Future Marinette wagged her finger. "Not so fast! I'm not sure you should do this alone, it's not going to be easy and you could really use the help. Trust me."

Lapinette sighed and massaged her temples. 'Please just tell me when and where.' She thought. She didn't know how much more of this migraine she could handle. "I'll be fine, nothing is easy anyway."

Future Marinette shook her head. She knew there was no way she could change her mind, she'd once been in this exact same position after all. "At the Eiffel Tower a week after Alya's birthday party. They're going to plan a large scale attack. If you can get there before them you should be able to catch both of them off guard and unprepared."

Lapinette shut her eyes tightly as she rubbed her forehead.

"Are you okay?" Future Marinette asked, but Lapinette didn't hear her.

"Thanks." Lapinette thanked her and pressed the button on the pocket watch, stepping back through the portal and into the burrow.

Once in the burrow she collapsed under the pain of her migraine. She'd never had one this bad before. She wasn't sure if she would be able to find her own timeline before the migraine left her immobile, she was going to have to endure the pain and make it back quickly.

* * *

I initially wasn't going to give rabbit miraculous Marinette a name, but it would have gotten too confusing, so we get Lapinette! Lapin is French for rabbit and really fits well will Marinette's name so I just had to use it! What do you think of her new hero name?


	25. Chapter 25

The effects of time travel:

* * *

"...Minibug? Is that you?" A voice called out to her.

Lapinette groaned, the lights and sounds only made her head pound harder. Who was in the burrow with her? Surely it was another miraculous wielder, but who?

"Hang on Minibug!"

Lapinette couldn't even open her eyes if she wanted. The pain throbbed through her temples. She could feel herself be picked up by someone, but couldn't even squint to try to see who it was without the pain becoming unbearable from the light sensitivity. It was hardly a minute before she felt herself be laid down on what felt like a bed.

Lapinette managed to groan out a thanks, her arm draped over her face, covering her eyes. She felt her rescuer sit down beside her on the bed.

"You don't need to get up, it's okay." The voice explained, "I guess Fluff didn't tell you, but time travel can give you one hell of a headache."

Lapinette groaned again as she pulled the blanket over her head. Of course that was why her head felt like it was going to implode. "Who are you?" She asked, still hidden away from the light that made her head pound even harder.

"Oh right, I'm Bunnix. I use this miraculous in the future, but it's only meant for emergencies Minibug!" Bunnix stood up, "You're lucky I was there to help you."

Lapinette wanted to respond, but couldn't find the words. Bunnix was right anyway. She should have done things properly instead of trying to cheat her way to the answer. Although future Marinette had only given her a place and a time, not the identity of Hawk Moth.

Bunnix clicked the button on her watch, opening a portal back into the burrow. "I hope you'll return the rabbit miraculous, or only use it in true emergencies."

Lapinette tried to peek outside the blankets to see how bright it was in her room. She slowly pulled them down from over her head. Being 2 PM, it was still quite bright and intolerable in her current state. Needless to say, she would be hiding under the blankets until the sun went down.

She took a deep breath, then whispered, "Fluff, counterclockwise."

Marinette transformed back into her civilian form and Fluff appeared before her.

"...Are you okay?" Fluff asked nervously.

Eyes closed, Marinette nodded. "Fluff can you bring me Tikki's box please?" She said with a whisper as she pointed to her vanity. "It's in the middle drawer."

Fluff floated away and returned with the box. Marinette struggled to put the earrings on without looking in a mirror, but eventually succeeded and Tikki materialized in front of her.

"Marinette I missed you!" Tikki cried, hugging Marinette's face.

The sudden noise triggered her pounding head and squinted in pain, furrowing her brow. "Shhh." Marinette hushed as she brought a finger to her lips. "The time travel gave me a migraine, sorry Tikki."

Tikki apologized quietly then left with Fluff, leaving Marinette alone to enjoy the silence as much as she could. The silence didn't last long though, her phone vibrated almost immediately after the two kwamis flew away. She thought of ignoring it, but the ringing became incessant.

Trying to keep her eyes closed, Marinette fished out the phone from her purse that was still slung across her body under the blanket. She peeked through one eye to see a call from Adrien. She accepted the call and held the phone an inch from her ear incase it was too loud.

"Adrien?" She asked, her voice groggy.

"Mari? Are you okay?"

She could hear the panic in his voice already. She had to make sure he understood she was okay, otherwise she was going to have a nervous boyfriend skip work and appear at her door in short order. "Yeah I'm okay. I just have a migraine."

The line fell silent for a few moments while she heard Adrien talking to someone else. "Mari I'm sorry but I have to go. Feel better!"

"Okay, bye."

Marinette ended the call and dropped her phone beside her. I should have listened to Master Fu. She scolded herself internally. Why didn't she listen to him anyway?

"Tikki?" She called out to her kwami, who had been off somewhere with Fluff, keeping quiet so not to disturb her migraine.

"Yes?"

"I need you to remember something for me since I can't write it down right now: Eiffel Tower, a week after Alya's birthday." Marinette recited the instructions she'd been given from her future self.

"Leave it to me!" Tikki exclaimed in a hushed voice.

Marinette knew she couldn't focus on anything other than her migraine until it subsided, which wasn't likely to be any time soon. She was forced to settle on staying in bed in the meantime. Maybe she'd be able to get that sleep she deserved.

* * *

Marinette isn't doing things properly and cheating? Nope, pretty sure that's me.


	26. Chapter 26

Marinette rolled over in her bed. She could hear someone knocking, was she dreaming? She started to hear someone talking just outside her room, it was kind of annoying. What were they saying? It was getting clearer, and she was starting to feel like this might not be a dream.

Marinette opened her eyes suddenly to see someone looking directly at her as they stood on the ladder of her loft. She jumped in surprise and quickly sat up to back away, but stumbled on the blanket and fell back onto her pillow.

"Mari it's okay! It's just me!"

Marinette shut her eyes tightly, then slowly reopened them, realizing her migraine was still present and the light in her room was on. She saw Adrien's fluffy blonde hair and bright green eyes greet her with an awkward smile following his apology for scaring her. "Adrien?" She asked confused, "What are you doing here?"

Adrien leaned over her bed, half his body still on the ladder. "I wanted to make sure you were okay." He explained in a hushed voice. "I brought you some juice too." He pulled a bottle from the plastic bag hanging from his arm. "I hope you like apple."

"Thanks, but can you turn the light off please?" Marinette asked, her hand blocking the light from her eyes.

Adrien zipped down the ladder. "Of course!" He flipped the switch by her bed and the room went dark except for the light from the city coming through her window. "Mind if I turn the lamp on?" Adrien waited for her okay before he turned the lamp on under her bed, giving the room a warm glow.

Marinette got down from her bed and the pair sat side-by-side on her chaise lounge.

"Were you able to do what you needed to today?" Adrien asked her, continuing to speak in a low voice so not to irritate her migraine.

Marinette nodded. It was simply by luck that she was able to finish her mission today and wasn't stuck in limbo for eternity. It was all thanks to Bunnix that she didn't spend a figurative night in the burrow.

"Are you sure?"

Marinette could tell he was worried, but she couldn't tell him what she was doing and the truth as to why she'd gotten this migraine.

"Do you need help? Maybe I can help you next time."

Marinette smiled, but shook her head. "Thanks Adrien, but I need to do this myself."

Adrien sighed. He wanted to help, why did she keep this from him? Was she keeping other secrets from him too? He ignored the thought. She was a good person and a great girlfriend, she wouldn't keep any secrets from him. It was probably just something else for Alya's birthday. He checked the time on his phone.

"I should get going, my bodyguard is waiting for me. I don't want Nathalie to tell my father I'm late." Adrien gave her a quick hug, then left as suddenly as he had arrived.

Tikki came out from her hiding place and sat on Marinette's knee after turning off the lamp. "I think you should tell him soon."

Marinette bit her lip, she could feel his hesitations and she noticed his faith in her was being questioned, but she could still see that he trusted her. She felt bad, but it was for the best. Everything would be over soon anyway.

"It's okay Tikki, there's only two days until Alya's birthday and the party, then a week until I confront Hawk Moth."

Marinette was determined to carry out her plan, even if it meant having to lie to Adrien and keep this whole thing a secret as both Ladybug and Marinette.

"I brought the ca– Woah!" Marinette tripped over herself struggled to keep her balance and the cake she was holding safe. Adrien stepped in at the perfect time, steadying her and protecting the cake.

"You okay Mari?" He asked as he took the cake to put on the table Rose and Juleka had decorated.

"Yeah, thanks Adrien."

"I can't believe you two are dating, it's about time Marinette!" Alix exclaimed while she finished stringing streamers from the trees.

Marinette ignored her blushing face and started helping Mylène blow up the remaining balloons.

Adrien laughed at Alix's comment and joined Nino who was preparing his equipment at the DJ table.

"So how are things going dude? You guys finally told everyone."

Adrien smiled shyly. "Yeah…" He trailed off, his mind going back to their interaction two days ago. "I feel like she's keeping something from me though."

Nino raised an eyebrow. Marinette keeping a secret from Adrien? She didn't seem like the type to do that. "Are you sure dude? I'm not so certain Marinette's capable of that." Nino told him with a laugh.

Adrien looked over at Marinette who was struggling to tie the balloon she'd blown up. Could such a sweet, trusting girl like her do something like this? His heart was screaming no, but his brain was telling him otherwise. Once again, he ignored the thought and helped the others prepare.

There were only a few hours until Alya would arrive here and the party would start. Though Alya knew that the party was happening, she didn't know where or when. To make up for her mistake, Marinette had been taking Alya on random crazy adventures for the last few days so she'd be less likely to know when the party was. Today's excuse was a Chat Noir and Ladybug sighting, featuring a selfie of herself as Ladybug for evidence.

* * *

New parts are likely going to be weekly again until school's done or the fic ends, whichever comes first. Life threw me one hell of a curve ball and it's exam time so I'm a little more busy.


	27. Chapter 27

"Alya you won't believe what I just saw!" Marinette told her in a video call from the park.

Alya sighed audibly, "Girl, is this another wild goose chase? I'm not ready for another one of those." Alya groaned, "I don't know if I'll believe you again. I don't even care if this is actually my surprise party this time."

Marinette grinned, shew knew a fool-proof way to convince Alya to go with her. "Let me send you a picture first." Marinette told her and sent the Ladybug selfie she took earlier. She could hear Alya's message notification over the call, followed by a few seconds of silence and Alya opened the image.

"How did you get this?" Alya demanded. Suddenly her tone changed from careless to serious.

Marinette laughed, "I told you! I saw her at the park, meet me there!"

Alya hesitated, then agreed to meet before they ended the call.

Marinette returned her phone to her purse and turned to see her friends waiting behind her. She gave a thumbs up to everyone eagerly awaiting the result of her call. They all exclaimed energetically and thanked Marinette for all the effort of trying to throw Alya off for when the party might actually be.

"I'm going to meet her at the park entrance, you're all ready?"

The group nodded in agreement.

"Don't spoil it now." Alix joked, sticking her tongue out.

"Thanks Mari!" Adrien shouted from within the group.

Marinette found Alya at the entrance of the park, eager to meet Marinette.

"Alya!" Marinette called out to get her attention.

"There you are! Okay, where did you see Ladybug?"

Marinette laughed, the true way into Alya's heart: Ladybug. If only Alya knew that the heroine she'd idolized had actually been her best friend this whole time.

"She was this way!" Marinette took Alya's hand and led her in the direction of the party.

Alya suddenly stopped and Marinette stumbled back, their hands still linked together. "Wait," Alya started, "If there's no akuma, why are Ladybug and Chat Noir out on a Wednesday evening?"

Alya had a point, but Marinette already thought about this. "I've heard some people say they go on patrol, maybe this is one of those?"

Alya looked suspicious, but Ladybug and Chat Noir's patrols were common knowledge. "Alright…" Alya continued to follow Marinette spite the doubt she felt.

"Happy Birthday!" The group exclaimed as they held out balloons once the pair came into view.

"I knew it!" Alya yelled in excitement.

Marinette crossed her arms. "No you didn't." She said with a confident smile.

"Shhh! Girl, don't blow my cover." Alya hushed her. "Alright, let's party!" She cried and pointed to Nino, "Do your thing Nino!"

Marinette laughed and joined the rest of the group. Nino started the music at his DJ table and everyone started to dance.

Marinette deemed the party a success. The date, time, and place where all kept hidden from Alya leaving the true time a surprise even if the party itself was expected. Everything else went exactly as planned, and nothing went wrong.

Suddenly, a group of people ran through the park screaming. No, no, no… Marinette started to panic. Hawk Moth wasn't supposed to be here yet. Ladybug was already on a patrol according to her earlier, how was she going to get out of the group if they thought Ladybug was already around? How was Adrien going to sneak away?

"You must all love each other of face the wrath of—"

"Woah! What do we have here?" Chat Noir called out the the akuma.

Marinette looked around for Adrien. How did he get away and transform so quickly? She dashed away while everyone was distracted by the sudden appearance of the akuma and Chat Noir.

"Tikki, spots on!"

Ladybug swung her yo-yo and joined Chat. "Well hello kitty, you're here early."

Chat smirked. "I was in the area."

The akuma continued to terrorise the citizens, but ironically left everyone really happy and...loving? "No one will ever be made fun of for who they choose to be with anymore! Everyone will love each other when I'm done!"

Chat took a step back, away from the akuma. "Me-ouch! Bad breakup?"

Ladybug shrugged, "Maybe, but we've got to save these people!" She pointed to a group of people standing around in a circle. They were all clearly in a daze, but were complimenting and giving each other hugs.

"It could be worse," Chat Noir shrugged. "I could live with this."

Ladybug jabbed him in the side with her elbow. "They didn't ask for this Chat, we have to help them!" She pointed at the akuma. "Look this…" She paused to attempt to find the right word," Magic beam is coming from it's hand. The akuma is probably his glove."

Chat nodded and gave a salute. "Aye, aye!" He knew this meant she had a plan.

"I'll distract him and you use your cataclysm to release the akuma." Ladybug explained with a smirk.

Chat looked at her eagerly. It wasn't often she was the distraction instead of him.

She called for her lucky charm and the plan commenced.

It didn't take long for the plan to succeed and for Chat to release the akuma from the glove. Ladybug purified the butterfly and let it go. She threw the lucky charm up and everything returned to normal thanks to her miraculous ladybug power.

"Pound it." They chorused.

Marc sat between them, slowly coming out of the stupor Hawk Moth's akuma had left him in. "What happened?" He asked confused. "I was out with Nathaniel, and someone was making fun of us…" He trailed off. "That's all I remember."

* * *

I'm not dead! Sorry guys, my PC started to die and I can't turn it on if I don't want to completely lose it. I just got a new PC today and the plan is to type that's left and publish everything asap. So look forward to seeing the ending probably sooner than you would otherwise lol


	28. Chapter 28

A few days had passed since Alya's party and Marinette was beginning to get anxious. Her upcoming battle with Hawk Moth was only two days away and she hadn't done much in the way of planning. She needed to visit Master Fu again, maybe she didn't have to do this completely alone.

Marinette tapped a finger on the notes she'd written for herself about Hawk Moth and Mayura, she slipped the note into her purse and stood up. "Come on Tikki."

Tikki floated over and into Marinette's purse. "Where are we going?"

Marinette answered with little emotion, her sole focus was going to Master Fu's and the plan she should come up with to defeat Hawk Moth. "To Master Fu's to get a miraculous."

"You're going to get help for the battle?" Tikki asked, hope suddenly filled her voice.

Marinette smirked, "In a way." Her answer was cryptic, but Tikki would understand.

They arrived at Master Fu's just as one of his clients was leaving.

"Marinette," He greeted her in surprise. "What brings you here so soon after you returned the rabbit miraculous?"

Marinette sat down beside him. "Master I need a couple miraculous to help me. In two days I'm going to battle Hawk Moth and I have to win."

Master Fu grinned, clearly glad to see her determination was still there. He had picked a fine Ladybug. "You can't have the rabbit miraculous again. Not after you were irresponsible and almost got trapped in the burrow." His tone was serious. Not only did he care for her as a person, but she was the holder of the Ladybug miraculous and Paris' heroine. She had to take care of herself.

Marinette waved her hand. "It's okay I don't need it. That miraculous gave me enough trouble." She rubbed her head, reminded of the intense migraine it gave her. "No, I want the mouse and the snake miraculous please."

Master Fu stroked his beard. "I hope you're not planning on using all of these yourself…" Master Fu trailed off, suspicious after her time travelling escapades. She definitely seemed like the type of Ladybug that might try to use all the miraculous at once to accomplish something without putting other people at risk. The risk still remained, however. If she didn't have enough power, using more than one miraculous at a time could destroy a person, possibly leaving them in a coma.

"Don't worry Master, I'll be safe." Marinette took both miraculous from the miracle box. "Thank you!" She gave a bow as she walked out the door behind her.

Tikki released herself from Marinette's purse to sit on her shoulder as they walked.

"You're going to use them all at once, aren't you?"

Marinette bit her lip. She could get around the truth when talking to Master Fu, but Tikki wouldn't stop until she got a straight answer. "I'll be fine Tikki, don't worry."

Tikki sighed, "Marinette…"

Once back at home Marinette stashed the boxes and started to get ready for her date with Adrien. They had been planning to get icecream from André the icecream man, then spend the rest of the night enjoying the view, sitting at Marinette's favourite place in Paris; The stairs at Trocadéro. She was planning to meet him at André's cart in an hour, so she still had plenty of time.

Marinette brushed her hair, debating if she should put it back up in her signature pigtails again or not. She'd come back to that decision. She changed into a flowy top she made for herself a few months ago when she was dreaming of temperatures above 10°. She tucked her shirt into a a pastel green circle skirt and looked in her mirror to make sure the outfit was up to standard.

By the time she was ready a half hour had already gone by.

"Marinette, it's almost time! You need to leave now if you don't want to be late!"

Marinette started to panic, she grabbed her purse and dashed out the door. She felt her hair brush against her face as she jumped down the stairs two at a time. Oh no, my hair! She'd forgotten to tie her hair back up. I'll just do it on the bus, I have hair ties in my purse. Marinette was always someone with a solution.

"See you later Papa!" She called as she ran through the bakery.

Marinette sat impatiently on the bus headed to André's and dug through her purse to find the spare hair ties she kept just in case. No, no, no! Her purse was completely void of hair ties. She thought back to yesterday when one of her hair ties broke and Alix asked for the other. She let out a deep sigh. Hair down it is, I guess.

Marinette arrived at the bridge where André usually was with only five minutes to spare until their meeting time. She opened her phone's camera to make sure she still looked okay. "I hope he thinks my hair looks okay." She groaned.

Marinette opened her purse again to consult Tikki. "What do you think? Do I look okay?"

Tikki smiled, "You look great!" Of course Tikki would give her a compliment, she rarely said otherwise.

"Mari?"

Marinette quickly closed her phone and turned around to see Adrien.

"Wow."

He was clearly surprised about her hair. He didn't like it, she could tell. She wanted to just disappear. "This is a disaster…" She mumbled to herself.

"I love it!" Adrien pushed her hair behind her ear.

Marinette blushed, "Do you think it looks okay?"

"Of course." Adrien took her hand. "Are you ready for icecream?"

Marinette nodded and the two started toward André's cart, hand in hand.

"I'm excited to see this favourite spot in Paris of your's. Especially since you won't tell me where it is." Adrien joked.

"Don't get too excited." Marinette laughed.

* * *

I hope you're all ready for rapid-fire parts to be published back to back!


	29. Chapter 29

Marinette's mind was overflowing with feelings of anxiety and hesitation, but she didn't dare succumb to them. Today was Wednesday, which meant she was due for a battle with Hawk Moth. Luckily the villain she faced during Alya's party wasn't the same battle she expected today.

She'd planned to spend the day near the Eiffel Tower so she would be ready when Hawk Moth and Mayura showed up. This meant that she had to skip classes, again. It wasn't the first time she'd missed class for her Ladybug duties of course. She'd just have to make up another excuse to her parents, it would all work out. If anyone knew what she was doing they wouldn't even second guess her missing class.

"Are you ready Marinette?" Tikki asked, hovering over the other two miraculous boxes in front of Marinette.

Marinette took a deep breath and nodded. She put on the necklace of the mouse miraculous and the bracelet of the snake. She checked her purse to make sure she had enough cookies for Tikki and grabbed the lunch she made for herself.

Marinette left as usual, but headed for the Eiffel Tower instead of school once she was out of the view of her parents in the bakery.

Before she arrived, Marinette transformed, then stationed herself on a nearby rooftop. She went over her plan in her head and promised herself it would work for the millionth time.

Hours went by. It was already 5:30PM and there was no sign of Hawk Moth Her anxiety was at an all-time high. Did future Marinette lie to her? She tried to ignore her apprehensions. Maybe Hawk Moth simply had a day job and was late to his own plans she jokingly thought to herself.

Not an hour later she noticed something odd half way up the tower. A figure was standing alone on a platform that wasn't open to the public. Ladybug squinted to try to see clearer against the setting sun. Suddenly another figure appeared and stood beside the other. Her heart started to race, this was it. She started a mental checklist; Forbidden area, two mysterious figures, they were wearing dark colours, this was it. She'd been waiting for this moment all week.

"Tikki spots off." She whispered, trying not to gain any attention. She opened her purse for Tikki to take a cookie and recharge.

"Mullo get squeaky." She whispered to the mouse who'd been silent until now.

"Tikki are you ready?" She paused to see the kwami nod. "Multitude!" She exclaimed in a hushed voice. She divided into three versions of herself, all slightly shorter than the original, but Hawk Moth wouldn't even have the chance to notice the difference.

"Tikki, Mullo, unify." The second Multimouse merged with Tikki, gaining both the powers of the Ladybug and Mouse miraculous.

"Sass, Mullo, unify." The third Multimouse merged with Sass, gaining that power as well.

These two new versions of herself left just one as regular Multimouse. Alright. Now to get over there without causing panic. Multimouse tried to remember what she'd learned from the minimal training she'd done already.

"Multitude!" She cried out again, and split herself until each version of herself was the size of a mouse. They all held onto each other as Multibug swung her yo-yo to bring them over the the Eiffel Tower. This wouldn't look much different than a bird flying by, if anyone noticed anyway.

Once on the same level of the tower as Hawk Moth, all the multimice combined, leaving just the trio again.

"Alright," Multimouse started, "We all know the plan; Multisass, you stay back in case something goes wrong. Multibug, you do your thing and I'll be the distraction however I can.

The three nodded in agreement. Multisass turned back the bracelet starting their five minutes. Multimouse called for multiply again and ran out to distract Hawk Moth. At the same time, Multibug snuck above them, lining herself up to be able to swipe the miraculous off Hawk Moth before he could react.

Lucky for them, she'd seen a picture of the butterfly miraculous before in the miraculous book she'd "borrow" for Adrien that time. The only wild card in this plan was Mayura. Initially she wasn't sure if she should capture Mayura's miraculous, or Hawk Moth's first. Hawk Moth's ability to create akumas at will however might squander her progress if she captured Mayura's miraculous first, which made for an easy decision in the end.

Hawk Moth was focused on Multimouse running around between his feet. Multibug swooped in and snatched the miraculous from his shirt. Multibug looked back to see who her enemy had been for so long.

"Gabriel Agreste?!" She called out in surprise.

In the trio's collective confusion all three failed to notice Mayura rapidly approaching Multibug until it was too late. Mayura sent Multibug flying off the Eiffel Tower. Multisass turned back the bracelet for second chance and they were all sent back to their meeting pre-attack.

"Wait!" Multisass stopped them. "Hawk moth is Gabriel Agreste."

Multimouse and Multibug both gasped in unison.

"But why?" Multibug asked.

"It doesn't matter, we have to stop him!" Multimouse chimed in.

The three nodded in agreement and executed their plan. This time, Multibug was prepared for Mayura's attack and blocked it successfully. Multimouse called for multiply again and clung to Mayura, searching for her miraculous.

Multibug continued to battle with Mayura, making sure Multimouse didn't fall off. Lucky for them, Mayura hadn't noticed Multisass watching over them in case something were to go wrong again.

Multisass pointed to a service latter until she saw that Multibug had noticed.

What? Multibug looked around and noticed Gabriel was missing.

"You've been abandoned by Hawk- Gabriel, Mayura. Give up."

"Never." Mayura hissed.

Multimouse used the distraction to pluck Mayura's miraculous from her dress. Mayura fell back in shock as her transformation broke.

Multimouse clicked her tongue. "Should have know that you would be Mayura if Hawk Moth was Gabriel Agreste."

Multibug reformed into one larger Multimouse and put the two miraculous in her pocket. "I should turn you both over to the authorities, but I already let Gabriel leave and I have no proof other than my word. If I let you go you better not cause any more trouble for this city, it's citizens, or me." She spoke with a stern voice, and a piercing glare. This girl was done withe super villains

Nathalie kept her head down Multimouse's entire lecture and nodded when she was done. She stood up and silently left down the ladder where Gabriel had left earlier.

The trio waited as long as they could before transforming back to ensure no one had stuck around or would be able to see her transform back.

"Mullo, divide." Multisass changed, becoming another Multimouse, combining with the original.

"Mullo, divide." Multibug followed suite in combining with the original Multimouse.

Multimouse sighed. The butterfly and peacock miraculous were finally safe. "I should return these to Master Fu before I go home."

Tikki eagerly floated in front of Multimouse, "I'm so glad Noroo and Duusu will finally be reunited with everyone in the miracle box!"

Sass nodded in agreement, "Yesss," he hissed. "I'm excited to sssee them again."

Multimouse walked into a dark corner of the tower and to detransform.

"Mullo, divide."

With that, she broke her transformation and made sure all the kwami's appetites were satiated.

"Tikki, spots on!"

Ladybug swung her yoyo, descending from the Eiffel Tower and onto the rooftops. Normally she would travel to Master Fu's in civilian form, but she had to get down from the tower somehow and this would be much faster than public transportation.

Ladybug thought she would feel and immense amount of relief after this. Rather than relief, she still felt anxiety as if it wasn't actually over yet. It was very anti-climatic and she was left a little disappointed.

All she had left was to return the butterfly and peacock miraculouses to Master Fu, then her job as Ladybug would be over. Suddenly she was about to be irrelevant. Just a regular teen again, no longer needed as a super hero. She was about to have a lot of spare time on her hands.

Ladybug released her transformation nearby and knocked on Master Fu's door.

"Marinette." He answered the door in surprise. "You're coming by a lot lately."

Marinette stepped through and sat down beside him in the living room. "I have something for you." SHe said with a slight smile. Marinette took the two miraculouses from her purse and passed them to him in closed hands.

"Oh, what's this?" He looked at the two miraculous that were finally in his possession at long last. "Marinette! How did you get these?!" He exclaimed, astonished she so suddenly appeared with them.

"It's over." She replied with a somber expression.


	30. Chapter 30

Marinette sat in her room, thinking about what would happen next now that her duties as Ladybug were over. Though she did have one more thing to do before she could tell Tikki their work together was over, at least for now.

The whole point behind her motivation was to tell Adrien that she was Ladybug… Or tell Chat Noir that Ladybug was Marinette… It was complicated.

She hadn't fully decided how she wanted to go about this yet. She didn't actually think that she would get this far into her plan, let alone this easily

Marinette paced back and forth in her room, trying to come up with something suitable. Some sort of plan to tell Adrien who she really was.

"You should just tell him! What's wrong with being plain honest?" Tikki asked from the edge of Marinette's loft.

"Tikki I can't just tell him! What would I say? 'Oh hi Adrien, I know that you're Chat Noir because I'm actually Ladybug and I've been in love with you this whole time!'" She mimed. "I can't do that!" Marinette paused. "Actually wait a minute, that's a brilliant idea! Thanks Tikki!"

Tikki wasn't sure what just happened, she knew Marinette well enough to know she wasn't actually going to just plain tell him, so what was she up to?

Marinette felt a little bad about her plan, but it was cleve. Hopefully Adrien would see the humour in it like she did.

Marinette took some cookies from the stash for Tikki and the two left for the park. Once she arrived she took out her phone to text Adrien.

Marinette 7:23PM - "Adriend help! There's an akuma in the park and I can't escape!"

Suddenly her guilt hit her all at once. This was a little extreme, he wasn't going to be happy about this. Was it going to be worth it? Marinette took a deep breath and hit send. She hid herself away from the other people and transformed.

She could feel her hands start to sweat, her anxieties about her plan only grew.

Ladybug waiting for Chat Noir in an alleyway between his house and the park. Soon enough Chat Noir appeared as usual and Ladybug used her yo-yo to meet him.

"LB! Where's the akuma? I didn't even get the alert, did you?"

They both jumped down from the rooftops and ran though the park. As they ran Ladybug looked at Chat, "Chat Noir, I'm actually also Marinette and I've been in love with you since we first met."

Chat stopped dead in his tracks. "You what?"

Ladybug slowed down to meet up.

"You staged this whole thing just to tell me this didn't you?" His voice was cold and his expression serious.

Ladybug's heart sank. She wanted this second chance to end just like he'd told her. When he was Aspik and suddenly told her he was also Chat Noir and that he was in love with her.

"Chat it's true!" She called out to him. She could feel her eyes starting to well with tears. Please. She wanted to right all her wrongs. She wanted to disappear, take back everything she'd done and start from the beginning again. What she really needed was a third chance.

"This is a disaster." She muffled into her hands.

Chat sighed. "Yeah."

A silence fell between them. For once, Ladybug didn't know what to do.

"There's no akuma is there?" Chat broke the silence with his question.

Ladybug shook her head in response. "Sorry."

Chat clicked his tongue, then extended his staff. "I've gotta go." He took off into the night.

Ladybug didn't know what to do. She didn't want to chase after him and make things worse. She soared across Paris only to stop when she was back in her room.

"Spots off."

Marinette fell onto her chaise lounge and let her tears flow.

Tikki came over to try to console her, "You should try to talk to him again."

Marinette wiped her tears and nodded.

They heard a knock at the trap door, then the squeak of the hinges. Tikki hid just in time before Sabine poked her head through the door.

"Marinette?" She called out, her voice brimming with concern. "Honey are you okay?" Sabine climbed the final few stairs and stepped into the room. She noticed Marinette's red eyes and wet cheeks and gave her a hug.

"Did something happen with Adrien?" Sabine asked while trying to soothe the pain in Marinette's heart.

Marinette hugged her mother and cried even harder than before.

After Sabine managed to calm her down Marinette asked, "What should I do Maman?"

Sabine pet Marinette's head and smiled. "You should talk to him. If you really love each other then you'll be able to work through whatever this is."

Marinette blew her nose and wiped the tears from her face. "But what if he doesn't love me anymore?"

Sabine laughed, "I've seen the way he looks at you. Everything will work out."

Marinette took a deep breath to help compose herself. Sabine kissed her forehead and went back downstairs.

Marinette took out her phone and stated to tap out a message.

Marinette 8:47PM - "Adrien I'm sorry, I want to talk about this."


	31. Chapter 31

Adrien lay face down in his bed. Everything was going so well between him and Marinette, but all of a sudden Ladybug said she and Marinette were the same person? What was he supposed to think? Of course he loved Ladybug at first, but then he decided to give up on her to see how things might turn out with Marinette. To top it all off, Ladybug told him so many time that she wasn't interested in him when he was Chat Noir. What changed? Did she only like the handsome model side of Adrien Agreste? He'd let a good amount of his silliness come out when they got comfortable as just plain Adrien and Marinette, did she hate that too?

Adrien rolled over to see Plagg hovering over his face. "Good God Plagg, you scared me." The surprise made him jump a little bit and his heart started to beat faster before he realized it was Plagg above him, and so close at that.

Plagg shrugged, "Looks like things have gotten a little complicated for you two."

Adrien groaned and covered his eyes with his arm. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do Plagg." He paused to think before continuing. "Not only has Marinette been keeping this a secret from me after I told her I was Chat Noir, but she doesn't even like Chat!"

Adrien let out a deep sigh. He could feel the tears start to form in his eyes. He wasn't one to cry, but it felt like everything he knew was a lie. He was so frustrated and angry.

"Woah woah woah!" Plagg stopped Adrien, "You know you're not supposed to share your identities. She was just abiding by the rule that you broke."

Adrien pulled his pillow over his head. This was not what he wanted to hear right now.

"On top of that," Plagg continued, "Ladybug didn't like Chat Noir because she was in love with Adrien! The same reason you didn't have eyes for Marinette because you were in love with Ladybug!" Plagg threw his arms in the air. "You two are hopeless. If you need me I'll be with my cheese."

Adrien moved the pillow from his face and sat up. "I guess you're right…" He trailed off.

"Well duh, of course I am." Plagg piped up. "I'm always right."

Adrien took his phone to message Marinette. If Plagg was right he should probably apologize.

He opened the conversation and stared at it, trying to think of what to say. As he contemplated what to write, his phone buzzed in his hand and there was a new message in their conversation.

Marinette 8:47PM - "Adrien I'm sorry, I want to talk about this"

Adrien felt a wave of relief.

Adrien 8:48PM - "I was just about to message you the same. Can you meet me at the Eiffel Tower?"

Marinette 8:48PM - "I'll be there in 10"

Adrien wiped the tears from his eyes and fixed his hair in the mirror. "Plagg let's go. We've got to fix this mess."

Plagg hugged his cheese, "Uh uh. No way. This is you problem, not mine!"

Adrien scoffed. Plagg could be so lazy sometimes. "Plagg, claws out!"

"Nooo!" Plagg whined as he was pulled into the miraculous.

Not three minutes later Chat Noir eagerly sa at the Eiffel Tower mid-way up. He was both excited to fix things with his lady, but nervous to face her after what he'd done.

A few minutes later Ladybug arrived, but stood a distance away from him.

"Listen Chat," She started, her voice trembling, trying to keep her composure.

He'd never seen her like this before. He felt terrible.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have kept this a secret from you. I just wanted to make sure that we would be safe when I did tell you who I truly was."

Chat shook his head and took her hands in his. "Don't be sorry, you were right." He smiled softly. "I overreacted and didn't think about why you kept it a secret." Chat paused to remember what Plagg had told him earlier. "How do you know we're safe to tell each other our identities though?" Chat's curiosity only growing.

Marinette smiled and squeezed his hands. "I defeated Hawk Moth and Mayura."

"You what?! Are you okay? Why didn't you ask for me help?" Chat's voice was filled with panic, even though it was already over, he was still scared for her.

Ladybug giggled. "I'm fine. I already gave both their miraculous to Master Fu, so we're safe now."

Chat looked at her with wide eyes. "No more akumas? No more traumatized citizens? No more putting ourselves in danger?"

Ladybug shook her head. "It's all over."

Chat picked her up and spun around. "You're amazing!" He cried. "I'm so glad it's you." he whispered as he set her down, then kissed he forehead.

Ladybug giggled. "Do you want to go on one last patrol? Just for fun." She asked, looking down at the city. Twinkling lights like stars on the ground filled her eyes. This was it. All her hopes were finally coming true.

Chat bowed and held out a hand, "I would love to, my lady." He looked up at her and winked.

Ladybug laughed, "You silly cat."

The two stood on the edge of the tower before jumping off and soaring over the city for what could be the last time.

* * *

Here's to the last part! I hope you all enjoyed it 3

It was a lot of fun to write, even if looking back on this part I wrote in Jan., that I typed today, was a little cringy lol

Next part is going to be a bonus part! I debated doing a few more, but I don' think those will happen anymore, sorry!


	32. Chapter 32

It had been 10 years since Marinette defeated Hawk Moth, but she was reminded of the immense impact he'd had on her life every day. On this particular afternoon, she'd been cleaning the apartment when she stumbled upon a pair of miraculous boxes. Master Fu's health had been deteriorating as of late, so he'd entrusted Marinette with the miraculous box as the new guardian.

Marinette picked up the two boxes and brought them into her sewing room where she hid the miraculous box. "I won't be needing these anytime soon, right Tikki?"

The kwami sat on Marinette's shoulder. "I hope not! We don't need another Hawk Moth on our hands!"

Marinette giggled, "You're telling me." She put the boxes away, then checked the time on her watch. 3:30 already? She clicked her tongue, there was a fashion show at 5PM tonight and Marinette finally managed to get a line in the show.

"Adrien!" She called down the hall. "It's already 3:30, don't you need to be at the venue by 4?"

A panicked voice responded from the bathroom, "It's 3:30 already? Oh no."

"I told you to get moving earlier!" Another voice responded.

"Oh stop Plagg. If anyone here is unreliable, it's you." Adrien retorted.

Marinette chucked. Out of the four of them, Plagg and Adrien bickered the most. It was a funny thought. A grown man arguing with a small, black, fluff ball.

Marinette moved to the kitchen to fix herself a midday snack to hold her over until the show finished. She didn't have to be there as early as Adrien, but she had to go early to ensure everything went smoothly and all her outfits looked as good as possible on the models.

As she ate Adrien dashed from the bathroom to the bedroom, then met her in the kitchen. "Do I look okay?"

Marinette smiled and twirled her finger. "Do a spin."

Adrien obliged her request and Marinette laughed. "You look great. You know they're going to make you up again when you get there though."

Adrien sighed, "You know what I think about first impressions!" He crossed his arms and huffed dramatically.

Marinette stood up from the table and threw her arms in the air, "You've met all these people before!"

As he was walking he turned around mid-step and brought a finger to his lips to shush her.

Marinette laughed. "You silly cat." She sat back down to finish her snack.

As she washed her dish Adrien poked his head around the door.

"You're still here?" She asked with a smirk.

"What do you think…" He trailed off as he walked into the kitchen and leaned against the counter beside her. "...If we reminisced for a bit?"

Marinette put the disk in the drying rack and dried her hands. "You want to transform and take the rooftops there?"

Adrien looked at her eagerly. He put his hands together, interlocking his fingers, pouting, and nodding excessively to try and garner her approval.

Marinette sighed. "You know, sometimes you're more like a puppy than a cat."

Adrien lifted both his hands in defence and took a step back. "Me-ouch!"

"Give me 30 minutes. You're going to be late though."

Adrien smirked. "It's okay as long as I'm with you, Bugaboo."

Marinette walked off to the bathroom to get ready.

Adrien smiled, he was so lucky. His first love was his only love and they were happy together. Marinette had excelled through her fashion degree, not that he had anything to do with that no… He continued to be successful in his modelling career, as apparent by the show he was going to walk in later that evening.

Adrien went into their bedroom and opened Marinette's closet. He didn't want to be later than he had to be, so he decided to pick out and outfit for her. Or at least try to.

As a model he had a pretty good eye for fashion. He picked out a white blouse with a ribbon tie at the neck, with poofy cuffed sleeves, a black pencil skirt, and a pair of everyone's favourite: Panty hose.

Marinette came into the bedroom with her makeup finished and hair neatly curled and placed in a ponytail. "Thanks Adrien." She said and put on what he'd picked out for her.

She put on a necklace and a bracelet and checked her appearance in the mirror one last time just in case.

"Ready?" Adrien asked as he stood up from where he'd been sitting.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Marinette tugged at her sleeve then turned to face him.

"Tikki, spots on!"

"Plagg, claws out!"

They both called out and transformed into their super hero forms.

They left through their balcony and soared across the Paris sky. They chased each other, dashing from rooftop to rooftop, clearly enjoying themselves.

They quickly arrived at the show's venue and broke their transformation where no one else would see. They passed by the line at the door, meeting the security guard.

"Adrien Agreste." Adrien told the guard.

The guard went down the list and ticked off his name. "Make sure you get a badge when you get inside."

The guard looked to Marinette. "Name?" He asked.

Marinette smiled, "Marinette Agreste."

The guard ticked off her name from the list. "Make sure you get a badge too." The guard opened the door to let them in, then continued to stare off, arms crossed, guarding the door.

Marinette and Adrien picked up their badges and headed backstage. Adrien went to see his team of stylists, and Marinette left to find the group that were taking care of her line.

"Will I see you in the audience?" Adrien asked before she left.

"Of course!" She replied with a smile before disappearing into the maze of temporary walls and stations that had been set up for the event.

"I love you!" He called after her.

"I love you too!" She called back at him through the maze.


End file.
